Tricyclo compounds, a process for their production and a pharmaceutical composition containing the same

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to tricyclo compounds useful for treatment and prevention of resistance by transplantation, graft-versus-host diseases by medulla ossium transplantation, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and the like, which can be represented by the following formula: ##STR1## to a process for their production, to a pharmaceutical composition containing the same and to a use thereof.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 06/868,749 filed on May 30, 1986, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,611, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 06/799,855, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,366 filed Nov. 20, 1985.

This invention relates to novel tricyclo compounds having pharmacological activities, to a process for their production and to a pharmaceutical composition containing the same.

More particularly, it relates to novel tricyclo compounds, which have pharmacological activities such as immunosuppressive activity, antimicrobial activity, and the like, to a process for their production, to a pharmaceutical composition containing the same and to a use thereof.

Accordingly, one object of this invention is to provide a novel tricyclo compounds, which are useful for treatment and prevention of resistance by transplantation, graft-versus-host diseases by medulla ossium transplantation, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and the like.

Another object of this invention is to provide a process for production of the tricyclo compounds by fermentation processes and synthetic processes.

A further object of this invention is to provide a pharmaceutical composition containing, as active ingredients, the tricyclo compounds.

Still further object of this invention is to provide a use of the tricyclo compounds for manufacturing a medicament for treating and preventing resistance by transplantation, graft-versus-host diseases by medulla ossium transplantation, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and the like.

With respect to the present invention, it is to be noted that this invention is originated from and based on the first and new discovery of new certain specific compounds, FR-900506, FR-900520, FR-900523 and FR-900525 substances. In more detail, the FR-900506, FR-900520, FR-900523 and FR-900525 substances were firstly and newly isolated in pure form from culture broths obtained by fermentation of new species belonging to genus Streptomyces.

And, as a result of an extensive study for elucidation of chemical structures of the FR-900506, FR-900520, FR-900523 and FR-900525 substances, the inventors of this invention have succeeded in determining the chemical structures thereof and in producing the tricyclo compounds of this invention.

The new tricyclo compounds of this invention can be represented by the following general formula: ##STR2## wherein R¹ is hydroxy or protected hydroxy,

R² is hydrogen, hydroxy or protected hydroxy,

R³ is methyl, ethyl, propyl or allyl,

n is an integer of 1 or 2, and the symbol of a line and dotted line is a single bond or a double bond,

and salts thereof.

Among the object compound (I), the following four specific compounds were found to be produced by fermentation.

(1) The compound (I) wherein R¹ and R² are each hydroxy, R³ is allyl, n is an integer of 2, and the symbol of a line and dotted line is a single bond, which is entitled to the FR-900506 substance;

(2) The compound (I) wherein R¹ and R² are each hydroxy, R³ is ethyl, n is an integer of 2, and the symbol of a line and dotted line is a single bond, which is entitled to the FR-900520 substance (another name: the WS 7238A substance);

(3) The compound (I) wherein R¹ and R² are each hydroxy, R³ is methyl, n is an integer of 2, and the symbol of a line and dotted line is a single bond, which is entitled to the FR-900523 substance (another name: the WS 7238B substance); and

(4) The compound (I) wherein R¹ and R² are each hydroxy, R³ is allyl, n is an integer of 1, and the symbol of a line and dotted line is a single bond, which is entitled to the FR-900525 substance.

With respect to the tricyclo compounds (I) of this invention, it is to be understood that there may be one or more conformer(s) or stereoisomeric pairs such as optical and geometrical isomers due to asymmetric carbon atom(s) and double bond(s), and such isomers are also included within a scope of this invention.

According to this invention, the object tricyclo compounds (I) can be prepared by the following processes.

[I] Fermentation Processes

    ______________________________________                                         Species belonging            FR-900506 substance                               to the genus                 FR-900520 substance                               Streptomyces                                                                               Fermentation     FR-900523 substance and                                                        FR-900525 substance                               ______________________________________                                    

[II] Synthetic Processes (1) Process 1 (Introduction of Hydroxy-Protective Group) ##STR3## (2) Process 2 (Introduction of Hydroxy-Protective Group) ##STR4## (3) Process 3(Formation of Double Bond) ##STR5## (4) Process 4 (Oxidation of Hydroxyethylene Group) ##STR6## (5) Process 5 (Reduction of Allyl Group) ##STR7## (6) Process 6(Removal of the carboxy-protective group) ##STR8## in which R¹, R², R³, n and the symbol of a line and dotted line are each as defined above,

R_(a) ¹ and R₂ ^(a) are each protected hydroxy,

R_(b) ¹ is protected carboxy(lower)alkylcarbamoyloxy,

R_(c) ¹ is carboxy(lower)alkylcarbamoyloxy, and

R_(b) ² is a leaving group.

Particulars of the above definitions and the preferred embodiments thereof are explained in detail as follows.

The term "lower" used in the specification is intended to mean 1 to 6 carbon atoms, unless otherwise indicated.

Suitable hydroxy-protective group in the "protected hydroxy" may include:

1-(lower alkylthio)(lower)alkyl such as lower alkylthiomethyl (e.g. methylthiomethyl, ethylthiomethyl, propylthiomethyl, isopropylthiomethyl, butylthiomethyl, isobutylthiomethyl, hexylthiomethyl, etc.), and the like, in which the preferred one may be C₁ -C₄ alkylthiomethyl and the most preferred one may be methylthiomethyl;

trisubstituted silyl such as tri(lower)alkylsilyl (e.g. trimethylsilyl, triethylsilyl, tributylsilyl, tert-butyl-dimethylsilyl, tri-tert-butylsilyl, etc.), lower alkyl-diarylsilyl (e.g. methyl-diphenylsilyl, ethyl-diphenylsilyl, propyl-diphenylsilyl, tert-butyl-diphenylsilyl, etc.), and the like, in which the preferred one may be tri(C₁ -C₄)alkylsilyl and C₁ -C₄ alkyl-diphenylsilyl, and the most preferred one may be tert-butyl-dimethylsilyl and tert-butyl-diphenylsilyl;

acyl such as aliphatic acyl, aromatic acyl and aliphatic acyl substituted with aromatic group, which are derived from carboxylic, sulfonic and carbamic acids; and the like.

The aliphatic acyl may include lower alkanoyl which may have one or more suitable substituent(s) such as carboxy (e.g. formyl, acetyl, propionyl, butyryl, isobutyryl, valeryl, isovaleryl, pivaloyl, hexanoyl, carboxyacetyl, carboxypropionyl, carboxybutyryl, carboxyhexanoyl, etc.), cyclo(lower)alkyloxy(lower)alkanoyl which may have one or more suitable substituent(s) such as lower alkyl (e.g. cyclopropyloxyacetyl, cyclobutyloxypropionyl, cycloheptyloxybutyryl, menthyloxyacetyl, menthyloxypropionyl, menthyloxybutyryl, menthyloxyheptanoyl, menthyloxyhexanoyl, etc.), camphorsulfonyl, lower alkylcarbamoyl having one or more suitable substituent(s) such as carboxy and a protected carboxy, for example, carboxy(lower)alkylcarbamoyl (e.g. carboxymethylcarbamoyl, carboxyethylcarbamoyl, carboxypropylcarbamoyl, carboxybutylcarbamoyl, carboxypentylcarbamoyl, carboxyhexylcarbamoyl, etc.), protected carboxy(lower)alkylcarbamoyl such as tri(lower)alkylsilyl(lower)alkoxycarbonyl(lower)alkylcarbamoyl (e.g. trimethylsilylmethoxycarbonylethylcarbamoyl, trimethylsilylethoxycarbonylpropylcarbamoyl, triethylsilylethoxycarbonylpropylcarbamoyl, tert-butyldimethylsilylethoxycarbonylpropylcarbamoyl, trimethylsilylpropoxycarbonylbutylcarbamoyl, etc.), and the like.

The aromatic acyl may include aroyl which may have one or more suitable substituent(s) such as nitro (e.g. benzoyl, toluoyl, xyloyl, naphthoyl, nitrobenzoyl, dinitrobenzoyl, nitronaphthoyl, etc.), arenesulfonyl which may have one or more suitable substituent(s) such as halogen (e.g. benzenesulfonyl, toluenesulfonyl, xylenesulfonyl, naphthalenesulfonyl, fluorobenzenesulfonyl, chlorobenzenesulfonyl, bromobenzenesulfonyl, iodobenzenesulfonyl, etc.), and the like.

The aliphatic acyl substituted with aromatic group may include ar(lower)alkanoyl which may have one or more suitable substituent(s) such as lower alkoxy and trihalo(lower)alkyl (e.g. phenylacetyl, phenylpropionyl, phenylbutyryl, 2-trifluoromethyl-2-methoxy-2-phenylacetyl, 2-ethyl-2-trifluoromethyl-2-phenylacetyl, 2-trifluoromethyl-2-propoxy-2-phenylacetyl, etc.), and the like.

The more preferred acyl group thus defined may be C₁ -C₄ alkanoyl which may have carboxy, cyclo(C₅ -C₆)-alkyloxy(C₁ -C₄)alkanoyl having two (C₁ -C₄)alkyl groups on the cycloalkyl moiety, camphorsulfonyl, carboxy(C₁ -C₄)-alkylcarbamoyl, tri(C₁ -C₄)alkylsilyl(C₁ -C₄)alkoxycarbonyl-(C₁ -C₄)alkylcarbamoyl, benzoyl which may have one or two nitro, benzenesulfonyl having halogen, phenyl(C₁ -C₄)alkanoyl having C₁ -C₄ alkoxy and trihalo(C₁ -C₄)alkyl, and the most preferred one may be acetyl, carboxypropionyl, menthyloxyacetyl, camphorsulfonyl, benzoyl, nitrobenzoyl, dinitrobenzoyl, iodobenzenesulfonyl and 2-trifluoromethyl-2-methoxy-2-phenylacetyl.

Suitable "protected carboxy(lower)alkylcarbamoyl" and "carboxy(lower)alkylcarbamoyl" moieties of the "protected carboxy(lower)alkylcarbamoyloxy" and "carboxy(lower)alkylcarbamoyloxy" groups may include the same as those exemplified in the explanation of the hydroxy-protective group mentioned above.

Suitable "leaving group" may include hydroxy, acyloxy in which the acyl moiety may be those as exemplified above, and the like.

The processes for production of the tricyclo compounds (I) of this invention are explained in detail in the following.

[I] Fermentation Processes

The FR-900506, FR-900520, FR-900523 and FR-900525 substances of this invention can be produced by fermentation of FR-900506, FR-900520, FR-900523 and/or FR-900525 substance(s)-producing strains belonging to the genus Streptomyces such as Streptomyces tsukubaensis No. 9993 and Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. yakushimaensis No. 7238 in a nutrient medium.

Particulars of microorganisms used for the production of the FR-900506, FR-900520, FR-900523 and FR-900525 substances are explained in the following.

[A] The FR-900506, FR-900520 and FR-900525 substances of this invention can be produced by fermentation of a FR-900506, FR-900520 and/or FR-900525 substance(s)-producing strain belonging to the genus Streptomyces such as Streptomyces tsukubaensis No. 9993 in a nutrient medium.

THE MICROORGANISM

The microorganism which can be used for the production of the FR-900506, FR-900520 and/or FR-900525 substances is FR-900506, FR-900520 and/or FR-900525 substance(s)-producing strain belonging to the genus Streptomyces, among which Streptomyces tsukubaensis No. 9993 has been newly isolated from a soil sample collected at Toyosato-cho, Tsukuba-gun, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan.

A lyophilized sample of the newly isolated Streptomyces tsukubaensis No. 9993 has been deposited with the Fermentation Research Institute, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (No. 1-3, Higashi 1-chome, Yatabemachi Tsukuba-gun, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan) under the deposit number of FERM P-7886 (deposited date: Oct. 5th, 1984), and then converted to Budapest Treaty route of the same depository on Oct. 19, 1985 under the new deposit number of FERM BP-927.

It is to be understood that the production of the novel FR-900506, FR-900520 and/or FR-900525 substance(s) is not limited to the use of the particular organism described herein, which is given for the illustrative purpose only. This invention also includes the use of any mutants which are capable of producing the FR-900506, FR-900520 and/or FR-900525 substances including natural mutants as well as artificial mutants which can be produced from the described organism by conventional means such as irradiation of X-rays, ultra-violet radiation, treatment with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, 2-aminopurine, and the like.

The Streptomyces tsukubaensis No. 9993 has the following morphological, cultural, biological and physiological characteristics.

[1] Morphological Characteristics

The methods described by Shirling and Gottlieb (Shirling, E. B. and D. Gottlieb: Methods for characterization of Streptomyces species. International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology, 16, 313-340, 1966) were employed principally for this taxonomic study.

Morphological observations were made with light and electron microscopes on cultures grown at 30° C. for 14 days on oatmeal agar, yeast-malt extract agar and inorganic salts-starch agar. The mature sporophores formed Rectiflexibiles with 10 to 50 or more than 50 spores in each chain. The spores were oblong or cylindrical, 0.5-0.7×0.7-0.8 μm in size by electron microscopic observation. Spore surfaces were smooth.

[2] Cultural Characteristics

Cultural characteristics were observed on ten kinds of media described by Shirling and Gottlieb as mentioned above, and by Waksman (Waksman, S. A.: The actinomycetes, vol. 2: Classification, identification and description of genera and species. The Williams and Wilkins Co., Baltimore, 1961).

The incubation was made at 30° C. for 14 days. The color names used in this study were based on Guide to Color Standard (manual published by Nippon Shikisai Kenkyusho, Tokyo). Colonies belonged to the gray color series when grown on oatmeal agar, yeast-malt extract agar and inorganic salts-starch agar. Soluble pigment was produced in yeast-malt extract agar but not in other media The results are shown in Table 1.

                                      TABLE 1                                      __________________________________________________________________________     Cultural Characteristics of Strain No. 9993 and                                Streptomyces misakiensis IFO 12891                                                       Cultural characteristics                                             Medium    No. 9993    IFO 12891                                                __________________________________________________________________________     Oatmeal Agar                                                                           G Moderate    Moderate                                                         A Gray        Grayish White                                                    R Pale Pink   Colorless                                                        S None        None                                                     Yeast-Malt                                                                             G Moderate    Moderate                                                 Extract Agar                                                                           A Light Gray  Grayish White                                                    R Dull Reddish Orange                                                                        Light Brown                                                      S Dull Reddish Orange                                                                        None                                                     Inorganic Salts-                                                                       G Moderate    Moderate                                                 Starch Agar                                                                            A Pale Yellow Orange to                                                                      Grayish White                                                      Light Gray                                                                   R Dark Orange Pale Yellowish Brown                                             S None        None                                                     Glucose-                                                                               G Poor        Moderate                                                 Asparagine                                                                             A White       Grayish White                                            Agar    R Pale Brown  Pale Yellowish Brown                                             S None        Pale Brown                                               Glycerin-                                                                              G Moderate    Moderate                                                 Asparagine                                                                             A Pale Pink to White                                                                         Grayish White                                            Agar    R Pale Pink   Pale Yellowish Brown                                             S None        Pale Brown                                               Czapek Agar                                                                            G Poor        Abundant                                                         A None        Grayish White                                                    R Pale Pink   Dark Orange to Dark Brown                                        S None        None                                                     Nutrient Agar                                                                          G Poor        Poor                                                             A White, Poor White                                                            R Colorless   Colorless                                                        S None        None                                                     Potato-Dextrose                                                                        G Poor        Moderate                                                 Agar    A None        Yellowish Gray                                                   R Pale Pink   Brown                                                            S None        None                                                     Tyrosine Agar                                                                          G Moderate    Moderate                                                         A White       Grayish White to Light Gray                                      R Dull Reddish Orange                                                                        Dark Orange to Black                                             S None        None                                                     Peptone-Yeast                                                                          G Poor        Poor                                                     Extract-Iron                                                                           A None        None                                                     Agar    R Colorless   Colorless                                                Agar    R Colorless   Colorless                                                        S None        None                                                     __________________________________________________________________________      Abbreviation:                                                                  G = Growth,                                                                    R = Reverse Side Color,                                                        A = Aerial Mass Color,                                                         S = Soluble Pigment,                                                     

The cell wall analysis was performed by the methods of Becker et al. (Becker, B., M. P. Lechevalier, R. E. Gordon and H. A. Lechevalier: Rapid differentiation between Nocardia and Streptomyces by paper chromatography of whole cell hydrolysates: Appl. Microbiol., 12, 421-423, 1964) and Yamaguchi (Yamaguchi, T.: Comparison of the cell wall composition of morphologically distinct actinomycetes: J.

Bacteriol., 89, 444-453, 1965). Analysis of whole cell hydrolysates of the strain No. 9993 showed the presence of LL-diaminopimelic acid. Accordingly, the cell wall of this strain is believed to be of type I.

[3] Biological and Physiological Properties

Physiological properties of the strain No. 9993 were determined according to the methods described by Shirling and Gottlieb as mentioned above. The results are shown in Table 2. Temperature range and optimum temperature for growth were determined on yeast-malt extract agar using a temperature gradient incubator (made by Toyo Kagaku Sangyo Co., Ltd.). Temperature range for growth was from 18° to 35° C. with optimum temperature at 28° C. Milk peptonization and gelatin liquefaction were positive. Melanoid pigment production was negative.

                  TABLE 2                                                          ______________________________________                                         Physiological Properties of Strain No. 9993 and                                Streptomyces misakiensis IFO 12891                                             Physiological                                                                  properties     No. 9993    IFO 12891                                           ______________________________________                                         Temperature Range for                                                                         18° C.-35° C.                                                                12° C.-35° C.                         Growth                                                                         Optimum Temperature                                                                           28° C.                                                                              28° C.                                       Nitrate Reduction                                                                             Negative    Negative                                            Starch Hydrolysis                                                                             Negative    Positive                                            Milk Coagulation                                                                              Negative    Negative                                            Milk Peptonization                                                                            Positive    Weakly Positive                                     Melanin Production                                                                            Negative    Negative                                            Gelatin Liquefaction                                                                          Positive    Negative                                            H.sub.2 S Production                                                                          Negative    Negative                                            NaCl Tolerance (%)                                                                            ≦3%  3%<, <5%                                            ______________________________________                                    

Utilization of carbon sources was examined according to the methods of Pridham and Gottlieb (Pridham, T. G. and D. Gottlieb: The utilization of carbon compounds by some Actinomycetales as an aid for species determination: J. Bacteriol., 56, 107-114, 1948). The growth was observed after 14 days incubation at 30° C.

Summarized carbon sources utilization of this strain is shown in Table 3. Glycerin, maltose and sodium succinate could be utilized by the strain No. 9993. Further, doubtful utilization of D-glucose, sucrose, D-mannose and salicin was also observed.

                  TABLE 3                                                          ______________________________________                                         Carbon Sources Utilization of Strain No. 9993 and                              Streptomyces misakiensis IFO 12891                                             Carbon                                                                         Sources         No. 9993 IFO 12891                                             ______________________________________                                         D-Glucose       ±     -                                                     Sucrose         ±     -                                                     Glycerin        +        -                                                     D-Xylose        -        -                                                     D-Fructose      -        -                                                     Lactose         -        -                                                     Maltose         +        -                                                     Rhamnose        -        -                                                     Raffinose       -        -                                                     D-Galactose     -        +                                                     L-Arabinose     -        -                                                     D-Mannose       ±     -                                                     D-Trehalose     -        -                                                     Inositol        -        -                                                     D-Mannitol      -        -                                                     Inulin          -        +                                                     Cellulose       -        -                                                     Salicin         ±     -                                                     Chitin          -        ±                                                  Sodium Citrate  -        -                                                     Sodium Succinate                                                                               +        -                                                     Sodium Acetate  -        -                                                     ______________________________________                                          Symbols:                                                                       +: utilization                                                                 ±: doubtful utilization                                                     -: no utilization                                                        

Microscopic studies and cell wall composition analysis of the strain No. 9993 indicate that this strain belongs to the genus Streptomyces Waksman and Henrici 1943.

Accordingly, a comparison of this strain was made with various Streptomyces species in the light of the published descriptions [International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology, 18, 69 to 189, 279 to 392 (1968) and 19, 391 to 512 (1969), and Bergy's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology 8th Edition (1974)].

As a result of the comparison, the strain No. 9993 is considered to resemble Streptomyces aburaviensis Nishimura et. al., Streptomyces avellaneus Baldacci and Grein and Streptomyces misakiensis Nakamura. Therefore, the cultural characteristics of the strain No. 9993 were compared with the corresponding Streptomyces aburaviensis IFO 12830, Streptomyces avellaneus IFO 13451 and Streptomyces misakiensis IFO 12891. As a result, the strain No. 9993 was the most similar to Streptomyces misakiensis IFO 12891. Therefore, the strain No. 9993 was further compared with Streptomyces misakiensis IFO 12891 as shown in the above Tables 1, 2 and 3. From further comparison, the strain No. 9993 could be differentiated from Streptomyces misakiensis IFO 12891 in the following points, and therefore the strain No. 9993 is considered to be a new species of Streptomyces and has been designated as Streptomyces tsukubaensis sp. nov., referring to the soil collected at Tsukuba-gun, from which the organism was isolated.

Difference from Streptomyces misakiensis IFO 12891

Cultural characteristics of the strain No. 9993 are different from the Streptomyces misakiensis IFO 12891 on oatmeal agar, yeast-malt extract agar, glucose-asparagine agar, Czapek agar and potato-dextrose agar.

Starch hydrolysis of the strain No. 9993 is negative, but that of the Streptomyces misakiensis IFO 12891 is positive.

Gelatin liquefaction of the strain No. 9993 is positive, but that of the Streptomyces misakiensis IFO 12891 is negative.

In carbon sources utilization, the strain No. 9993 can utilize glycerin, maltose and sodium succinate, but the Streptomyces misakiensis IFO 12891 can not utilize them. And, the strain No. 9993 can not utilize D-galactose and inulin, but the Streotomyces misakiensis IFO 12891 can utilize them.

PRODUCTION OF FR-900506, FR-900520 AND FR-900525 SUBSTANCES

The novel FR-900506, FR-900520 and FR-900525 substances of this invention can be produced by culturing a FR-900506, FR-900520 and/or FR-900525 substance(s)-producing strain belonging to the genus Streptomyces (e.g. Streptomyces tsukubaensis No. 9993, FERM BP-927) in a nutrient medium.

In general, the FR-900506, FR-900520 and/or FR-900525 substance(s) can be produced by culturing the FR-900506, FR-900520 and/or FR-900525 substance(s)-producing strain in an aqueous nutrient medium containing sources of assimilable carbon and nitrogen, preferably under aerobic conditions (e.g. shaking culture, submerged culture, etc.).

The preferred sources of carbon in the nutrient medium are carbohydrates such as glucose, xylose, galactose, glycerin, starch, dextrin, and the like. Other sources which may be included are maltose, rhamnose, raffinose, arabinose, mannose, salicin, sodium succinate, and the like.

The preferred sources of nitrogen are yeast extract, peptone, gluten meal, cottonseed meal, soybean meal, corn steep liquor, dried yeast, wheat germ, feather meal, peanut powder etc., as well as inorganic and organic nitrogen compounds such as ammonium salts (e.g. ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, ammonium phosphate, etc.), urea, amino acid, and the like.

The carbon and nitrogen sources, though advantageously employed in combination, need not be used in their pure form, because less pure materials which contain traces of growth factors and considerable quantities of mineral nutrients, are also suitable for use. When desired, there may be added to the medium mineral salts such as sodium or calcium carbonate, sodium or potassium phosphate, sodium or potassium chloride, sodium or potassium iodide, magnesium salts, copper salts, cobalt salt and the like. If necessary, especially when the culture medium foams seriously, a defoaming agent, such as liquid paraffin, fatty oil, plant oil, mineral oil or silicone may be added.

As the conditions for the production of the FR-900506, FR-900520 and FR-900525 substances in massive amounts, submerged aerobic cultural conditions are preferred therefor. For the production in small amounts, a shaking or surface culture in a flask or bottle is employed. Furthermore, when the growth is carried out in large tanks, it is preferable to use the vegetative form of the organism for inoculation in the production tanks in order to avoid growth lag in the process of production of the FR-900506, FR-900520 and FR-900525 substances. Accordingly, it is desirable first to produce a vegetative inoculum of the organism by inoculating a relatively small quantity of culture medium with spores or mycelia of the organism and culturing said inoculated medium, and then to transfer the cultured vegetative inoculum aseptically to large tanks. The medium, in which the vegetative inoculum is produced, is substantially the same as or different from the medium utilized for the production of the FR-900506, FR-900520 and FR-900525 substances.

Agitation and aeration of the culture mixture may be accomplished in a variety of ways. Agitation may be provided by a propeller or similar mechanical agitation equipment, by revolving or shaking the fermentor, by various pumping equipment or by the passage of sterile air through the medium. Aeration may be effected by passing sterile air through the fermentation mixture.

The fermentation is usually conducted at a temperature between about 20° C. and 40° C., preferably 25°-35° C., for a period of about 50 hours to 150 hours, which may be varied according to fermentation conditions and scales.

Thus produced FR-900506, FR-900520 and/or FR-900525 substance(s) can be recovered from the culture medium by conventional means which are commonly used for the recovery of other known biologically active substances. The FR-900506, FR-900520 and FR-900525 substances produced are found in the cultured mycelium and filtrate, and accordingly the FR-900506, FR-900520 and FR-900525 substances can be isolated and purified from the mycelium and the filtrate, which are obtained by filtering or centrifuging the cultured broth, by a conventional method such as concentration under reduced pressure, lyophilization, extraction with a conventional solvent, pH adjustment, treatment with a conventional resin (e.g. anion or cation exchange resin, non-ionic adsorption resin, etc.), treatment with a conventional adsorbent (e.g. activated charcoal, silicic acid, silica gel, cellulose, alumina, etc.), crystallization, recrystallization, and the like.

PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF FR-900506, FR-900520 AND FR-900525 SUBSTANCES

The FR-900506, FR-900520 and FR-900525 substances produced according to the aforementioned process possess the following physical and chemical properties.

FR-900506 Substance

(1) Form and Color: white powder

(2) Elemental Analysis:

    ______________________________________                                         C:     64.72%,     H:    8.78%,   N:  1.59%                                           64.59%            8.74%        1.62%                                    ______________________________________                                    

(3) Color Reaction:

Positive: cerium sulfate reaction, sulfuric acid reaction, Ehrlich reaction, Dragendorff reaction and iodine vapor reaction

Negative: ferric chloride reaction, ninhydrin reaction and Molish reaction

(4) Solubility:

Soluble : methanol, ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, chloroform, diethyl ether and benzene

Sparingly Soluble: hexane, petroleum ether

Insoluble: water

(5) Melting Point: 85°-90° C.

(6) Specific Rotation: [α]_(D) ²³ :-73° (c=0.8, CHCl₃)

(7) Ultraviolet Absorption Spectrum: end absorption

(8) Infrared Absorption Spectrum: ν_(max) CHCl₃ : 3580, 3520, 2930, 2870, 2830, 1745, 1720, 1700, 1645, 1450, 1380, 1350, 1330, 1310, 1285, 1170, 1135, 1090, 1050, 1030, 1000, 990, 960(sh), 918 cm⁻¹

(9) ¹³ C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrum:

    ______________________________________                                         δ(ppm,   212.59 (s)    196.18 (s)  169.07 (s)                            CDCl.sub.3):                                                                                 212.45 (s),   192.87 (s), 168.90 (s),                                           164.90 (s)    138.89 (s)  135.73 (d)                                          166.01 (s),   139.67 (s), 135.60 (d),                                           132.52 (s)    130.27 (d)  122.87 (d)                                          131.99 (s),   130.21 (d), 123.01 (d),                                           116.57 (t)     97.35 (s)   84.41 (d),                                         116.56 (t),    98.76 (s),                                                        77.79 (d)     75.54 (d)   73.93 (d)                                           78.22 (d),    76.97 (d),   73.09 (d),                                           73.72 (d)     70.05 (d)   56.75 (d),                                          72.57 (d),    69.15 (d),                                                        53.03 (d)     48.85 (t)   40.33 (d)                                           53.13 (d),    48.62 (t),  40.85 (d),                                           39.40 (t),                                                                     31.58 (t),    30.79 (t),   27.72 (t)                                                                     26.34 (t),                                           26.46 (d),    24.65 (t),   20.45 (q)                                                                     19.73 (q),                                            14.06 (q)     9.69 (q)                                                        14.23 (q),    9.98 (q),                                         ______________________________________                                    

the chart of which being shown in FIG. 1.

(10) ¹ H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrum: the chart of which being shown in FIG. 2,

(11) Thin Layer chromatography:

    ______________________________________                                                       Developing                                                       Stationary Phase                                                                             Solvent        Rf Values                                         ______________________________________                                         silica gel plate                                                                             chloroform:    0.58                                                            methanol (10:1, v/v)                                                           ethyl acetate  0.52                                              ______________________________________                                    

(12) Property of the Substance: neutral substance

With regard to the FR-900506 substance, it is to be noted that in case of measurements of ¹³ C and ¹ H nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, this substance showed pairs of the signals in various chemical shifts.

The FR-900506 substance thus characterized further possesses the following properties.

(i) The measurements of ¹³ C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectra at 25° C. and 60° C. revealed the fact that the intensities of each pair of the various signals therein were changed.

(ii) The measurements of the thin layer chromatography and the high performance liquid chromatography revealed that the FR-900506 substance occurs as a single spot in the thin layer chromatography and a single peak in the high performance liquid chromatography, respectively.

This white powder of the FR-900506 substance could be transformed into a form of crystals by recrystallization thereof from acetonitrile, which possess the following physical and chemical properties.

(1) Form and Color: colorless prisms

(2) Elemental Analysis:

    ______________________________________                                         C:     64.30%,     H:    8.92%,   N:  1.77 %                                          64.20%,           8.86%,       1.72%,                                   ______________________________________                                    

(3) Melting Point: 127°-129° C.

(4) Specific Rotation: [α]_(D) ²³ : -84.4° (c=1.02, CHCl₃)

(5) ¹³ C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrum:

    ______________________________________                                         δ(ppm,   221.98 (s)    196.28 (s)  168.97 (s)                            CDCl.sub.3):                                                                                 211.74 (s),   193.56 (s), 168.81 (s),                                           164.85 (s)    138.76 (s)  135.73 (d)                                          165.97 (s),   139.51 (s), 135.63 (d),                                           132.38 (s)    130.39 (d)  122.82 (d)                                          131.90 (s),   130.17 (d), 122.96 (d),                                          116.43 (t),     97.19 (s)  84.29 (d),                                                         98.63 (s),                                                        77.84 (d)     77.52 (d)   69.89 (d)                                           78.21 (d),    76.97 (d),  69.00 (d),                                             56.63 (d)    52.97 (d)   48.76 (t)                                           54.87 (d),    52.82 (d),  48.31 (t),                                            40.21 (d)    31.62 (t),  30.72 (t),                                           40.54 (d),                                                                     24.56 (t),     21.12 (t)   20.33 (q)                                                         20.86 (t),  19.74 (q),                                            16.17 (q)     15.88 (q)   13.89 (q)                                           16.10 (q),    15.75 (q),  14.05 (q),                                            9.64 (q)                                                                      9.96 (q)                                                        ______________________________________                                    

the chart of which being shown in FIG. 3,

(6) ¹ H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrum: the chart of which being shown in FIG. 4.

Other physical and chemical properties, that is, the color reaction, solubility, ultraviolet absorption spectrum, infrared absorption spectrum, thin layer chromatography and property of the substance of the colorless prisms of the FR-900506 substance were the same as those for the white powder of the same under the identical conditions.

From the above physical and chemical properties and the analysis of the X ray diffraction, the FR-900506 substance could be determined to have the following chemical structure. ##STR9##

FR-900520 Substance

The physical and chemical properties are mentioned later.

FR-900525 Substance

(1) Form and Color: white powder

(2) Elemental Analysis: C: 65.17 %, H: 8.53 %, N: 1.76 %

(3) Color Reaction:

Positive: cerium sulfate reaction, sulfuric acid reaction, Ehrlich reaction, Dragendorff reaction and iodine vapor reaction

Negative: ferric chloride reaction, ninhydrin reaction and Molish reaction

(4) Solubility:

Soluble : methanol, ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, chloroform, diethyl ether and benzene

Sparingly Soluble: hexane, petroleum ether

Insoluble: water

(5) Melting Point: 85°-89° C.

(6) Specific Rotation:

[α]_(D) ²³ : -88° (c =1.0, CHCl₃)

(7) Ultraviolet Absorption Spectrum: end absorption

(8) Infrared Absorption Spectrum:

ν_(max) CHCl₃ : 3680, 3580, 3475, 3340, 2940, 2880, 2830, 1755, 1705, 1635, 1455, 1382, 1370, 1330, 1310, 1273, 1170, 1135, 1093, 1050, 1020, 995, 970, 920, 867 cm⁻¹

(9) ¹³ C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrum:

    ______________________________________                                         δ(ppm,   212.61 (s)    188.57 (s)  168.76 (s)                            CDCl.sub.3):                                                                                 211.87 (s),   191.12 (s), 170.18 (s),                                           163.11 (s)    140.28 (s)  135.62 (d)                                          161.39 (s),   139.37 (s), 135.70 (d),                                           132.28 (s)    130.09 (d)  122.50 (d)                                          131.34 (s),   130.00 (d), 123.23 (d),                                           116.48 (t),    99.16 (s)   84.42 (d)                                                         99.11 (s),  84.48 (d),                                            78.60 (d)     76.73 (d)   59.97 (d)                                           79.86 (d),     77.33 (d),                                                                                60,45 (d),                                            57.52 (q),    56.56 (q)   56.14 (q)                                                         56.48 (q),  55.97 (q),                                            53.45 (d)     49.15 (t)   48.46 (t)                                           53.26 (d),    49.73 (t),  47.62 (t),                                            44.47 (t)     41.40 (d)   35.19 (d)                                           45.23 (t),    40.40 (d),  35.11 (d),                                            33.10 (d)     32.81 (t)   31.53 (t)                                           34.17 (d),    32.29 (t),  31.33 (t),                                            30.80 (t)     28.60 (t),                                                                                 26.03 (d)                                           30.66 (t),                26.98 (d),                                            25.43 (t)     18.93 (q)   14.09 (q)                                           24.40 (t),    20.57 (q),  13.95 (q),                                            9.85 (q)                                                                      10.00 (q)                                                       ______________________________________                                    

the chart of which being shown in FIG. 5,

(10) ¹ H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrum: the chart of which being shown in FIG. 6,

(11) Thin Layer Chromatography:

    ______________________________________                                                         Developing                                                     Stationary Phase                                                                               Solvent    Rf Value                                            ______________________________________                                         silica gel plate                                                                               ethyl acetate                                                                             0.34                                                ______________________________________                                    

(12) Property of the Substance; neutral substance

With regard to the FR-900525 substance, it is to be noted that in case of measurements of ¹³ C and ¹ H nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, this substance showed pairs of the signals in various chemical shifts, however, in case of measurements of the thin layer chromatography and the high performance liquid chromatography, the FR-900525 substance showed a single spot in the thin layer chromatography and a single peak in the high performance liquid chromatography, respectively.

From the above physical and chemical properties and the success of the determination of the chemical structure of the FR-900506 substance, the FR-900525 substance could be determined to have the following chemical structure. ##STR10##

[B] The FR-900520 and FR-900523 substances of this invention can be produced by fermentation of FR-900520 and/or FR-900523 substance(s)-producing strain belonging to the genus Streptomyces such as Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. yakushimaensis No. 7238 in a nutrient medium.

THE MICROORGANISM

The microorganism which can be used for the production of the FR-900520 and/or FR-900523 substances is FR-900520 and/or FR-900523 substance(s)-producing strain belonging to the genus Streptomyces, among which Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. yakushimaensis No. 7238 has been newly isolated from a soil sample collected at Yakushima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.

A lyophilized sample of the newly isolated Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. yakushimaensis No. 7238 has been deposited with the Fermentation Research Institute, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (No.1-3, Higashi 1-chome, Yatabemachi, Tsukuba-gun, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan) under the number of FERM P-8043 (deposited date: Jan. 12th, 1985), and then converted to Budapest Treaty route of the same depository on Oct. 19, 1985 under the new deposit number of FERM BP-928.

It is to be understood that the production of the novel FR-900520 and FR-900523 substances is not limited to the use of the particular organism described herein, which is given for the illustrative purpose only. This invention also includes the use of any mutants which are capable of producing the FR-900520 and/or FR-900523 substance(s) including natural mutants as well as artificial mutants which can be produced from the described organism by conventional means such as irradiation of X-rays, ultra-violet radiation, treatment with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, 2-aminopurine, and the like.

The Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. yakushimaensis No. 7238 has the following morphological, cultural, biological and physiological characteristics.

[1] Morphological Characteristics

The methods described by Shirling and Gottlieb (Shirling, E. B. and D. Gottlieb: Methods for characterization of Streptomyces species. International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology, 16, 313-340, 1966) were employed principally for this taxonomic study.

Morphological observations were made with light and electron microscopes on cultures grown at 30° C. for 14 days on oatmeal agar, yeast-malt extract agar and inorganic salts-starch agar. The mature sporophores were moderately short and formed Retinaculiaperti and Spirales with about 20 spores in each chain. Hygroscopic spore mass were seen in the aerial mycelia on oatmeal agar and inorganic salts-starch agar. Surface irregularities on spores were intermediate between very short, thick spines and warts.

[2] Cultural Characteristics

Cultural characteristics were observed on ten kinds of media described by Shirling and Gottlieb as mentioned above, and by Waksman (Waksman, S. A.: The actinomycetes, vol. 2: Classification, identification and description of genera and species. The Williams and Wilkins Co., Baltimore, 1961).

The incubation was made at 30° C. for 14 days. The color names used in this study were based on Guide to Color Standard (manual published by Nippon Shikisai Kenkyusho, Tokyo). Colonies belonged to the gray color series when grown on oatmeal agar, yeast-malt extract agar and inorganic salts-starch agar. Soluble pigment was not produced in the examined media. The results are shown in Table 4.

                                      TABLE 4                                      __________________________________________________________________________     Cultural Characteristics of Strain No. 7238, Streptomyces antimycoticus        IFO 12839                                                                      and Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus IFO 13786                                    Cultural Characteristics                                          Medium       No. 7238    IFO 12839   IFO 13786                                 __________________________________________________________________________     Oatmeal Agar                                                                              G Poor        Poor        Poor                                                 A Grayish Yellow Brown                                                                       Grayish Yellow Brown                                                                       Grayish Yellow Brown                                 R Pale Yellow Pale Yellow Pale Yellow                                          S None        None        None                                      Yeast-Malt G Moderate    Abundant    Moderate                                  Extract Agar                                                                              A Grayish White                                                                              Gray        Gray                                                 R Pale Yellowish Brown                                                                       Pale Yellowish Brown                                                                       Dark Orange                                          S None        None        None                                      Inorganic Salts-                                                                          G Moderate    Moderate    Moderate                                  Starch Agar                                                                               A Gray to Black                                                                              Gray        Light Gray                                           R Pale Yellow Orange                                                                         Yellowish Gray                                                                             Pale Yellow Orange                                   S None        None        None                                      Glucose-   G Moderate    Moderate    Moderate                                  Asparagine A Grayish White                                                                              Gray        White                                     Agar       R Pale Yellow Orange                                                                         Pale Yellow Orange                                                                         Pale Yellow Orange                                   S None        None        None                                      Glycerin-  G Moderate    Moderate    Moderate                                  Asparagine A White       Gray        Light Gray                                Agar       R Yellowish Gray                                                                             Yellowish Gray                                                                             Grayish Yellow Brown                                 S None        None        None                                      Czapek Agar                                                                               G Moderate    Moderate    Moderate                                             A Grayish White                                                                              Grayish White                                                                              White                                                R Pale Yellowish Brown                                                                       Pale Yellowish Brown                                                                       Pale Yellowish Brown                                 S None        None        None                                      Nutrient Agar                                                                             G Moderate    Moderate    Moderate                                             A Grayish White                                                                              Grayish White                                                                              None                                                 R Pale Yellow Pale Yellow Pale Yellow                                          S None        None        None                                      Potato-Dextrose                                                                           G Moderate    Moderate    Moderate                                  Agar       A White, Poor Pale Reddish Brown                                                                         Pale Pink to White                                   R Pale Yellow Orange                                                                         Pale Yellow Orange                                                                         Pale Yellowish Brown                                 S None        None        None                                      Tyrosine Agar                                                                             G Moderate    Moderate    Moderate                                             A White       Grayish White                                                                              Gray to Black                                        R Pale Yellowish Brown                                                                       Brown       Pale Yellowish Brown                                 S None        Brown       None                                      Peptone-Yeast                                                                             G Moderate    Moderate    Moderate                                  Extract-Iron                                                                              A None        Grayish White                                                                              None                                      Agar       R Pale Yellow Pale Yellow Colorless                                            S None        None        None                                      __________________________________________________________________________      Abbreviation:                                                                  G = Growth,                                                                    R = Reverse Side Color,                                                        A = Aerial Mass Color,                                                         S = Soluble Pigment,                                                     

The cell wall analysis was performed by the methods of Becker et al. (Becker, B., M. P. Lechevalier, R. E. Gordon and H. A. Lechevalier: Rapid differentiation between Nocardia and Streptomyces by paper chromatography of whole cell hydrolysates: Appl. Microbiol., 12, 421-423, 1964) and Yamaguchi (Yamaguchi, T.: Comparison of the cell wall composition of morphologically distinct actinomycetes: J. Bacteriol., 89, 444-453 ,1965). Analysis of whole cell hydrolysates of the strain No. 7238 showed the presence of LL-diaminopimelic acid. Accordingly, the cell wall of this strain is believed to be of type I.

[3] Biological and Physiological Properties

Physiological properties of the strain No. 7238 were determined according to the methods described by Shirling and Gottlieb as mentioned above. The results are shown in Table 5. Temperature range and optimum temperature for growth were determined on yeast-malt extract agar using a temperature gradient incubator (made by Toyo Kagaku Sangyo Co., Ltd.). Temperature range for growth was from 18 to 36° C. with optimum temperature at 28° C. Starch hydrolysis and gelatin liquefaction were positive. No melanoid pigment was produced.

                                      TABLE 5                                      __________________________________________________________________________     Physiological Properties of Strain No. 7238, Streptomyces antimycoticus        IFO 12839 and Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus IFO 13786             Physiological                                                                  properties      No. 7238                                                                              IFO 12839                                                                             IFO 13786                                        __________________________________________________________________________     Temperature Range for Growth                                                                   18° C.-36° C.                                                           18° C.-38° C.                                                           16° C.-35° C.                      Optimum Temperature                                                                            28° C.                                                                         28° C.                                                                         27° C.                                    Nitrate Reduction                                                                              Negative                                                                              Negative                                                                              Negative                                         Starch Hydrolysis                                                                              Positive                                                                              Positive                                                                              Positive                                         Milk Coagulation                                                                               Negative                                                                              Negative                                                                              Negative                                         Milk Peptonization                                                                             Negative                                                                              Negative                                                                              Positive                                         Melanin Production                                                                             Negative                                                                              Negative                                                                              Negative                                         Gelatin Liquefaction                                                                           Positive                                                                              Positive                                                                              Positive                                         H.sub.2 S Production                                                                           Negative                                                                              Negative                                                                              Negative                                         Urease Activity Negative                                                                              Negative                                                                              Negative                                         NaCl Tolerance (%)                                                                             7%<, <10%                                                                             7%<, <10%                                                                             5%<, <7%                                         __________________________________________________________________________

Utilization of carbon sources was examined according to the methods of Pridham and Gottlieb (Pridham, T. G. and D. Gottlieb: The utilization of carbon compounds by some Actinomycetales as an aid for species determination: J. Bacteriol., 56, 107-114, 1948). The growth was observed after 14 days incubation at 30° C.

Summarized carbon sources utilization of this strain is shown in Table 6. D-Glucose, sucrose, lactose, maltose, D-trehalose, inositol, inulin and salicin could be utilized by the strain No. 7238.

                  TABLE 6                                                          ______________________________________                                         Carbon Sources Utilization of Strain No. 7238,                                 Streptomyces antimycoticus IFO 12839 and                                       Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus                                     IFO 13786                                                                      Carbon                                                                         Sources       No. 7238 IFO 12839   IFO 13786                                   ______________________________________                                         D-Glucose     +        +           +                                           Sucrose       +        +           +                                           Glycerin      -        +           +                                           D-Xylose      -        ±        +                                           D-Fructose    -        +           +                                           Lactose       +        +           -                                           Maltose       +        -           +                                           Rhamnose      -        +           -                                           Raffinose     -        +           +                                           D-Galactose   -        +           +                                           L-Arabinose   -        ±        ±                                        D-Mannose     -        +           +                                           D-Trehalose   +        ±        +                                           Inositol      +        +           +                                           D-Mannitol    -        +           +                                           Inulin        +        +           -                                           Cellulose     ±     -           -                                           Salicin       +        +           -                                           Chitin        ±     -           -                                           Sodium Citrate                                                                               -        -           ±                                        Sodium Succinate                                                                             -        +           +                                           Sodium Acetate                                                                               -        -           -                                           ______________________________________                                          Symbols:                                                                       +: utilization                                                                 ±: doubtful utilization                                                     -: no utilization                                                        

Microscopic studies and cell wall composition analysis of the strain No. 7238 indicate that this strain belongs to the genus Streptomyces Waksman and Henrici 1943.

Accordingly, a comparison of this strain was made with various Streptomyces species in the light of the published descriptions [International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology, 18, 69 to 189, 279 to 392 (1968) and 19, 391 to 512 (1969), and Bergy's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology 8th Edition (1974)] .

As a result of the comparison, the strain No. 7238 is considered to resemble Streptomyces antimycoticus Waksman 1957 and Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus Ohmori, et. al. 1962. Therefore, the cultural characteristics of the strain No. 7238 were further compared with the corresponding Streptomyces antimycoticus IFO 12839 and Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus IFO 13786 as shown in the above Tables 4, 5 and 6. From further comparison, the strain No. 7238 could be differentiated from Streptomyces antimycoticus IFO 12839 and Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus IFO 13786 in the following points.

(i) Difference from Streptomyces antimycoticus IFO 12839

Cultural characteristics of the strain No. 7238 are different from the Streptomyces antimycoticus IFO 12839 on yeast-malt extract agar, glucose-asparagine agar, glycerin-asparagine agar, potato-dextrose agar and tyrosine agar.

In carbon sources utilization, the strain No. 7238 can utilize maltose, but the Streptomyces antimycoticus IFO 2839 can not utilize it. And, the strain No. 7238 can not utilize glycerin, D-fructose, rhamnose, raffinose, D-galactose, D-mannose, mannitol and sodium succinate, but the Streptomyces antimycoticus IFO 12839 can utilize them.

(ii) Difference from Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus IFO 13786

Cultural characteristics of the strain No. 7238 are different from the Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus IFO 13786 on yeast-malt extract agar, potato-dextrose agar and tyrosine agar.

Milk peptonization of the strain No. 7238 is negative, but that of the Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus IFO 13786 is positive. The strain No. 7238 can grow in the presence of 7% NaCl, but the Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus IFO 13786 can not grow under the same condition.

In carbon sources utilization, the strain No. 7238 can utilize lactose, inulin and salicin, but the Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus IFO 13786 can not utilize them. And, the strain No. 7238 can not utilize glycerin, D-xylose, D-fructose, raffinose, D-galactose, D-mannose, mannitol and sodium succinate, but the Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus IFO 13786 can utilize them.

However, the strain No. 7238 forms hygroscopic spore mass in the aerial mycelia on oatmeal agar and inorganic salts-starch agar, and further morphological and cultural characteristics of the strain No. 7238 are similar to the Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus IFO 13786. Therefore, the strain No. 7238 is considered to belong to Streptomyces hygroscopicus, but the strain No. 7238 is different from the Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. glebosus IFO 13786, though this known strain is the most similar to the strain No. 7238 in Streptomyces hygroscopicus subspecies. From the above facts, the strain No. 7238 is considered to be a new subspecies of Streptomyces hygroscopicus and has been designated as Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. yakushimaensis subsp. nov., referring to the soil collected at Yakushima, from which the organism was isolated.

PRODUCTION OF FR-900520 and FR-900523 SUBSTANCES

The novel FR-900520 and/or FR-900523 substance(s) can be produced by culturing FR-900520 and/or FR-900523 substance(s)-producing strain belonging to the genus Streptomyces (e.g. Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. yakushimaensis No. 7238, FERM BP-928) in a nutrient medium.

In general, the FR-900520 and/or FR-900523 substance(s) can be produced by culturing the FR-900520 and/or FR-900523 substance(s)-producing strain in an aqueous nutrient medium containing sources of assimilable carbon and nitrogen, preferably under aerobic conditions (e.g. shaking culture, submerged culture, etc.).

The preferred sources of carbon in the nutrient medium are carbohydrates such as glucose, sucrose, lactose, glycerin, starch, dextrin, and the like. Other sources which may be included are maltose, D-trehalose, inositol, inulin, salicin, and the like.

The preferred sources of nitrogen are yeast extract, peptone, gluten meal, cottonseed meal, soybean meal, corn steep liquor, dried yeast, wheat germ, feather meal, peanut powder etc., as well as inorganic and organic nitrogen compounds such as ammonium salts (e.g. ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, ammonium phosphate, etc.), urea, amino acid, and the like.

The carbon and nitrogen sources, though advantageously employed in combination, need not be used in their pure form, because less pure materials which contain traces of growth factors and considerable quantities of mineral nutrients, are also suitable for use. When desired, there may be added to the medium mineral salts such as sodium or calcium carbonate, sodium or potassium phosphate, sodium or potassium chloride, sodium or potassium iodide, magnesium salts, copper salts, cobalt salt and the like. If necessary, especially when the culture medium foams seriously, a defoaming agent, such as liquid paraffin, fatty oil, plant oil, mineral oil or silicone may be added.

As the conditions for the production of the FR-900520 and FR-900523 substances in massive amounts, submerged aerobic cultural conditions are preferred therefor. For the production in small amounts, a shaking or surface culture in a flask or bottle is employed. Furthermore, when the growth is carried out in large tanks, it is preferable to use the vegetative form of the organism for inoculation in the production tanks in order to avoid growth lag in the process of production of the FR-900520 and FR-900523 substances. Accordingly, it is desirable first to produce a vegetative inoculum of the organism by inoculating a relatively small quantity of culture medium with spores or mycelia of the organism and culturing said inoculated medium, and then to transfer the cultured vegetative inoculum aseptically to large tanks. The medium, in which the vegetative inoculum is produced, is substantially the same as or different from the medium utilized for the production of the FR-900520 and FR-900523 substances.

Agitation and aeration of the culture mixture may be accomplished in a variety of ways. Agitation may be provided by a propeller or similar mechanical agitation equipment, by revolving or shaking the fermentor, by various pumping equipment or by the passage of sterile air through the medium. Aeration may be effected by passing sterile air through the fermentation mixture.

The fermentation is usually conducted at a temperature between about 20° C. and 40° C., preferably 25°-35° C., for a period of about 50 hours to 150 hours, which may be varied according to fermentation conditions and scales.

Thus produced FR-900520 and/or FR-900523 substance(s) can be recovered from the culture medium by conventional means which are commonly used for the recovery of other known biologically active substances. The FR-900520 and FR-900523 substances produced are mainly found in the cultured mycelium, and accordingly the FR-900520 and FR-900523 substances can be isolated and purified from the mycelium, which are obtained by filtering or centrifuging the cultured broth, by a conventional method such as concentration under reduced pressure, lyophilization, extraction with a conventional solvent, pH adjustment, treatment with a conventional resin (e.g. anion or cation exchange resin, non-ionic adsorption resin, etc.), treatment with a conventional adsorbent (e.g. activated charcoal, silicic acid, silica gel, cellulose, alumina, etc.), crystallization, recrystallization, and the like.

Particularly, the FR-900520 substance and the FR-900523 substance can be separated by dissolving the materials containing both products produced by fermentation in an appropriate solvent such as ethyl acetate, n-hexane, and the like, and then by subjecting said solution to chromatography, for example, on silica gel in a column with an appropriate organic solvent such as ethyl acetate and n-hexane, or a mixture thereof. And each of the FR-900520 substance and the FR-900523 substance thus separated can be further purified by a conventional method, for example, recrystallization, re-chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography, and the like.

PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF FR-900520 and FR-900523 SUBSTANCES FR-900520 Substance

(1) Form and Color: colorless plates

(2) Elemental Analysis: C: 64.81 %, H: 8.82 %, N: 1.55 %

(3) Color Reaction:

Positive: cerium sulfate reaction, sulfuric acid reaction, Ehrlich reaction, Dragendorff reaction and iodine vapor reaction

Negative: ferric chloride reaction, ninhydrin reaction and Molish reaction

(4) Solubility:

Soluble : methanol, ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, chloroform, diethyl ether and benzene

Sparingly Soluble: n-hexane, petroleum ether

Insoluble: water

(5) Melting Point: 163°-165° C.

(6) Specific Rotation: [α]_(D) ²³ : -84.1° (c =1.0, CHCl₃)

(7) Ultraviolet Absorption Spectrum: end absorption

(8) Infrared Absorption Spectrum: ν_(max) CHCl₃ : 3680, 3575, 3520, 2940, 2875, 2825, 1745, 1725, 1700, 1647, 1610(sh), 1452, 1380, 1350, 1330, 1285, 1170, 1135, 1090, 1030, 1005, 990, 980(sh), 960(sh), 913, 908(sh) cm⁻¹

(9) ¹³ C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrum:

    ______________________________________                                         δ(ppm,   213.04 (s),   196.21 (s)  169.07 (s)                            CDCl.sub.3):                                                                                               193.23 (s), 168.85 (s),                                           164.92 (s)    138.67 (s)  132.46 (s)                                          165.97 (s),   139.53 (s), 131.98 (s),                                           130.20 (d)    123.42 (d)   97.28 (s)                                          130.08 (d),   123.59 (d),  98.75 (s),                                            84.37 (d),    77.80 (d)   75.53 (d)                                                         78.24 (d),  76.98 (d),                                            73.92 (d),    73.69 (d),                                                                                 73.11 (d)                                                                     72.72 (d),                                            70.11 (d)     57.02 (q),                                                                                 56.60 (q)                                           69.21 (d),               57.43 (q),                                             56.23 (q)     56.72 (d)   55.10 (d)                                           55.98 (q),    52.91 (d),  54.90 (d),                                            48.90 (t)     40.19 (d)   27.67 (t)                                           48.57 (t),    40.63 (d),  26.32 (t),                                            26.51 (d)     24.60 (t),                                                                                 21.19 (t)                                           26.44 (d),                20.86 (t),                                            20.47 (q)     16.21 (q)   15.83 (q)                                           19.75 (q),    15.97 (q),  15.94 (q),                                            14.04 (q)     11.68 (q),                                                                                 9.64 (q)                                            14.16 (q),                9.93 (q),                             ______________________________________                                    

the chart of which being shown in FIG. 7,

(10) ¹ H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrum; the chart of which being shown in FIG. 8,

(11) Thin Layer Chromatography:

    ______________________________________                                                      Developing                                                        Stationary Phase                                                                            Solvent        Rf Values                                          ______________________________________                                         silica gel plate                                                                            chloroform:    0.38                                                            methanol (20:1, v/v)                                                           ethyl acetate  0.51                                               ______________________________________                                    

(12) property of the Substance: neutral substance

With regard to the FR-900520 substance, it is to be noted that in case of measurements of ¹³ C and ¹ H nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, this substance shows pairs of the signals in various chemical shifts, however, in case of measurements of the thin layer chromatography and the high performance liquid chromatography, the FR-9000520 substance showed a single spot in the thin layer chromatography and a single peak in the high performance liquid chromatography, respectively.

From the above physical and chemical properties and the success of the determination of the chemical structure of the FR-9000506 substance, the FR-900520 substance could be determined to have the following chemical structure. ##STR11##

FR-900523 Substance

(1) Form and Color: colorless needles

(2) Elemental Analysis: C: 64.57 %, H: 8.84 %, N: 1.81 %

(3) Color Reaction:

Positive: cerium sulfate reaction, sulfuric acid reaction, Ehrlich reaction, Dragendorff reaction and iodine vapor reaction

Negative: ferric chloride reaction and ninhydrin reaction

(4) Solubility:

Soluble : methanol, ethanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, chloroform, diethyl ether and benzene

Sparingly Soluble: n-hexane and petroleum ether

Insoluble : water

(5) Melting Point: 152°-154° C.

(6) Specific Rotation: [α]_(D) ²³ : -73.0° (C=0.65, CHCl₃)

(7) Ultraviolet Absorption Spectrum: end adsorption

(8) Infrared Absorption Spectrum: ν_(max) CHCl₃ : 3670, 3580, 3510, 2930, 2875, 2825, 1745, 1722, 1700, 1647, 1450, 1380, 1350, 3130, 1307, 1285, 1170, 1135, 1090, 1050, 1030, 1000, 990, 978, 960, 930, 915, 888, 870, 850 cm⁻¹

(9) ¹³ C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrum:

    ______________________________________                                          δ  (ppm,                                                                              213.82 (s)     196.31 (s)   168.96 (s)                           (CDCl.sub.3):                                                                               213.32 (s),    193.34 (s),  168.85 (s),                                         164.84 (s)     137.80 (s)   132.89 (s)                                        165.98 (s),    138.41 (s),  131.96 (s),                                         129.62 (d)     124.51 (d)    97.13 (s)                                        130.03 (d),    124.84 (d),   98.67 (s),                                          84.38 (d),     76.69 (d)    75.45 (d)                                                        78.06 (d),   76.91 (d),                                          73.89 (d)      73.70 (d),   73.09 (d)                                         73.70 (d),                  72.84 (d),                                          70.40 (d)      56.75 (d)    56.93 (q)                                         69.24 (d),     52.89 (d),   57.43 (q),                                          56.61 (q)      56.24 (q)    48.58 (t)                                         56.56 (q),     55.94 (q),   48.32 (t),                                          47.14 (d)      40.23 (d)    27.85 (t)                                         47.38 (d),     40.65 (d),   26.32 (t),                                          26.48 (d)      24.68 (t),   21.33 (t)                                         26.64 (d),                  20.83 (t),                                          20.63 (q)      16.24 (q)    15.70 (q)                                         19.77 (q),     16.34 (q),   15.96 (q),                                          15.51 (q)      14.31 (q)    9.64 (q)                                          15.96 (q),     14.18 (q),   10.04 (q),                           ______________________________________                                    

the chart of which being shown in FIG. 9,

(10) ¹ H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrum: the chart of which being shown in FIG. 10,

(11) Thin Layer Chromatography:

    ______________________________________                                         Stationary Phase                                                                              Developing Solvent                                                                            Rf Values                                        ______________________________________                                         silica gel plate                                                                              chloroform:methanol                                                                           0.38                                                            (20:1, v/v)                                                                    ethyl acetate  0.51                                             ______________________________________                                    

(12) Property of the Substance: neutral substance

With regard to the FR-900523 substance, it is to be noted that in case of measurements of ¹³ C and ¹ H nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, this substance shows pairs of the signals in various chemical shifts, however, in case of measurements of the thin layer chromatography and the high performance liquid chromatography, the FR-900523 substance showed a single spot in the thin layer chromatography and a single peak in the high performance liquid chromatography, respectively.

From the above physical and chemical properties and the success of the determination of the chemical structure of the FR-900506 substance, the FR-900523 substance could be determined to have the following chemical structure. ##STR12##

[II] Synthetic Processes (1) Process 1: (Introduction of Hydroxy-Protective Group)

The compound (Ib) or a salt thereof can be prepared by introducing a hydroxy-protective group into the compound (Ia) or a salt thereof.

Suitable introducing agent of the hydroxy-protective group used in this reaction may be a conventional one such as di(lower)alkyl sulfoxide, for example, lower alkyl methyl sulfoxide (e.g. dimethyl sulfoxide, ethyl methyl sulfoxide, propyl methyl sulfoxide, isopropyl methyl sulfoxide, butyl methyl sulfoxide, isobutyl methyl sulfoxide, hexyl methyl sulfoxide, etc.), trisubstituted silyl compound such as tri(lower)alkylsilyl halide (e.g. trimethylsilyl chloride, triethylsilyl bromide, tributylsilyl chloride, tert-butyl-dimethylsilyl chloride, etc.), lower alkyl-diarylsilyl halide (e.g. methyl-diphenylsilyl chloride, ethyl-diphenylsilyl bromide, propyl-ditolylsilyl chloride, tert-butyl-diphenylsilyl chloride, etc.), and acylating agent which is capable of introducing the acyl group as mentioned before such as carboxylic acid, sulfonic acid, carbamic acid and their reactive derivative, for example, an acid halide, an acid anhydride, an activated amide, an activated ester, isocyanate, and the like. Preferable example of such reactive derivative may include acid chloride, acid bromide, a mixed acid anhydride with an acid such as substituted phosphoric acid (e.g. dialkylphosphoric acid, phenylphosphoric acid, diphenylphosphoric acid, dibenzylphosphoric acid, halogenated phosphoric acid, etc.), dialkylphosphorous acid, sulfurous acid, thiosulfuric acid, sulfuric acid, alkyl carbonate (e.g. methyl carbonate, ethyl carbonate, propyl carbonate, etc.), aliphatic carboxylic acid (e.g. pivalic acid, pentanoic acid, isopentanoic acid, 2-ethylbutyric acid, trichloroacetic trifluoroacetic acid, etc.), aromatic carboxylic acid (e.g. benzoic acid, etc ), a symmetrical acid anhydride, an activated acid amide with a heterocyclic compound containing imino function such as imidazole, 4-substituted imidazole, dimethylpyrazole, triazole and tetrazole, an activated ester (e.g. p-nitrophenyl ester, 2,4-dinitrophenyl ester, trichlorophenyl ester, pentachlorophenyl ester, mesylphenyl ester, phenylazophenyl ester, phenyl thioester, p-nitrophenyl thioester, p-cresyl thioester, carboxymethyl thioester, pyridyl ester, piperidinyl ester, 8-quinolyl thioester, or an ester with a N-hydroxy compound such as N,N-dimethylhydroxylamine, 1-hydroxy-2-(1H)-pyridone, N-hydroxysuccinimide, N-hydroxyphthalimide, 1-hydroxybenzotriazole, 1-hydroxy-6-chlorobenzotriazole, etc.), isocyanate, and the like.

In this reaction, in case that the di(lower)alkyl sulfoxide is used as an introducing agent of the hydroxy-protective group, the reaction is usually conducted in the presence of lower alkanoic anhydride such as acetic anhydride.

Further, in case that the trisubstituted silyl compound is used as an introducing agent of the hydroxy-protective group, the reaction is preferable conducted in the presence of a conventional condensing agent such as imidazole, and the like.

Still further, in case that the acylating agent is used as an introducing agent of the hydroxy-protective group, the reaction is preferably conducted in the presence of an organic or inorganic base such as alkali metal (e g. lithium, sodium, potassium, etc.), alkaline earth metal (e.g. calcium, etc.), alkali metal hydride (e.g. sodium hydride, etc.), alkaline earth metal hydride (e.g. calcium hydride, etc.), alkali metal hydroxide (e.g. sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, etc.), alkali metal carbonate (e.g. sodium carbonate, potassium carbonate, etc.), alkali metal hydrogen carbonate (e.g. sodium hydrogen carbonate, potassium hydrogen carbonate, etc.), alkali metal alkoxide (e.g. sodium methoxide, sodium ethoxide, potassium tert-butoxide, etc.), alkali metal alkanoic acid (e.g. sodium acetate, etc.), trialkylamine (e.g. triethylamine, etc.), pyridine compound (e.g. pyridine, lutidine, picoline, 4-N,N-dimethylaminopyridine, etc.), quinoline, and the like.

In case that the acylating agent is used in a free form or its salt in this reaction, the reaction is preferably conducted in the presence of a conventional condensing agent such as a carbodiimide compound [e.g. N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, N-cyclohexyl-N'-(4-diethylaminocyclohexyl)carbodiimide, N,N'-diethylcarbodiimide, N,N'-diisopropylcarbodiimide, N-ethyl-N'-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide, etc.], a ketenimine compound (e.g. N,N'-carbonylbis(2-methylimidazole), pentamethyleneketene-N-cyclohexylimine, diphenylketene-N-cyclohexylimine, etc.); an olefinic or acetylenic ether compounds (e.g. ethoxyacetylene, β-cyclovinylethyl ether), a sulfonic acid ester of N-hydroxybenzotriazole derivative [e.g. 1-(4-chlorobenzenesulfonyloxy)6-chloro-1H-benzotriazole, etc.], and the like.

The reaction is usually conducted in a conventional solvent which does not adversely influence the reaction such as water, acetone, dichloromethane, alcohol (e.g. methanol, ethanol, etc.), tetrahydrofuran, pyridine, benzene, N,N-dimethylformamide, etc., or a mixture thereof, and further in case that the base or the introducing agent of the hydroxy-protective group is in liquid, it can also be used as a solvent.

The reaction temperature is not critical and the reaction is usually conducted under from cooling to heating.

This process includes, within a scope thereof, a case that during the reaction, the hydroxy group for R² of the compound (Ia) may occasionally be transformed into the corresponding protected hydroxy group in the object compound (Ib).

Further, this process also includes, within a scope thereof, a case that when the di(lower)alkyl sulfoxide is used as an introducing agent of the hydroxy-protective group in the presence of lower alkanoic anhydride, the compound (Ia) having a partial structure of the formula: ##STR13## wherein R² is hydroxy, may occasionally be oxidized during the reaction to give the compound (Ib) having a partial structure of the formula: ##STR14## wherein R² is hydroxy.

(2) Process 2: (Introduction of Hydroxy-Protective Group)

The compound (Id) or a salt thereof can be prepared by introducing a hydroxy-protective group into the compound (Ic) or a salt thereof.

The reaction can be conducted by substantially the same method as that of Process 1, and therefore the reaction conditions (e.g. base, condensing agent, solvent, reaction temperature, etc.) are referred to those of Process 1.

This process includes, within a scope thereof, a case that during the reaction, the hydroxy group for R¹ of the compound (Ic) may frequently be transformed into the corresponding protected hydroxy group in the object compound (Id).

(3) Process 3: (Formation of Double Bond)

The compound (If) or a salt thereof can be prepared by reacting the compound (Ie) or a salt thereof with a base.

Suitable base to be used in this reaction may include one as exemplified in Process 1.

This reaction can also be conducted by reacting the compound (Ie), where R² is hydroxy, with an acylating agent in the presence of a base.

The reaction is usually conducted in a conventional solvent which does not adversely influence the reaction such as water, acetone, dichloromethane, alcohol (e.g. methanol, ethanol, propanol, etc.), tetrahydrofuran, pyridine, N,N-dimethylformamide, etc., or a mixture thereof, and further in case that the base is in liquid, it can also be used as a solvent.

The reaction temperature is not critical and the reaction is usually conducted under from cooling to heating.

(4) Process 4: (Oxidation of Hydroxyethylene Group)

The compound (Ih) or a salt thereof can be prepared by oxidizing the compound (Ig) or a salt thereof.

The oxidizing agent to be used in this reaction may include di(lower)alkyl sulfoxide such as those given in Process 1.

This reaction is usually conducted in the presence of lower alkanoic anhydride such as acetic anhydride in a conventional solvent which does not adversely influence the reaction such as acetone, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, tetrahydrofuran, pyridine, N,N-dimethylformamide, etc., or a mixture thereof, and further in case that the lower alkanoic anhydride is in liquid, it can also be used as a solvent.

The reaction temperature is not critical and the reaction is usually conducted under from cooling to heating.

This process includes, within a scope thereof, a case that during the reaction the hydroxy group for R¹ of the starting compound (Ig) may occasionally be transformed into 1-(lower alkylthio)(lower)alkyloxy group in the object compound (Ih).

(5) Process 5:(Reduction of Allyl Group)

The compound (Ij) or a salt thereof can be obtained by reducing the compound (Ii) or a salt thereof.

Reduction in this process can be conducted by a conventional method which is capable of reducing an allyl group to a propyl group, such as catalytic reduction, or the like.

Suitable catalysts used in catalytic reduction are conventional ones such as platinum catalysts (e.g. platinum plate, spongy platinum, platinum black, colloidal platinum, platinum oxide, platinum wire, etc.), palladium catalysts (e.g. spongy palladium, palladium black, palladium oxide, palladium on carbon, colloidal palladium, palladium on barium sulfate, palladium on barium carbonate, etc.), nickel catalysts (e.g. reduced nickel, nickel oxide, Raney nickel, etc.), cobalt catalysts (e.g. reduced cobalt, Raney cobalt, etc.), iron catalysts (e.g. reduced iron, Raney iron, etc.), copper catalysts (e.g. reduced copper, Raney copper, Ullman copper, etc.), and the like.

The reduction is usually conducted in a conventional solvent which does not adversely influence the reaction such as water, methanol, ethanol, propanol, pyridine, ethyl acetate, N,N-dimethylformamide, dichloromethane, or a mixture thereof.

The reaction temperature of this reduction is not critical and the reaction is usually conducted under from cooling to warming.

(6) Process 6: (Removal of the carboxy-protective group)

The compound (Il) or a salt thereof can be prepared by removing the carboxy-protective group from the compound (Ik) or a salt thereof.

The removal reaction in this process can be conducted in a conventional manner which is capable of transforming a tri(lower)alkylsilyl(lower)alkoxycarbonyl group to a carboxy group, that is, in the presence of tetra(lower)alkylammonium fluoride (e.g. tetrabutylammonium fluoride, etc.), potassium fluoride, hydrogen fluoride, and the like.

This reaction is usually conducted in a conventional solvent which does not adversely influence the reaction such as tetrahydrofuran, and the like.

The reaction temperature is not critical and the reaction is usually conducted under from cooling to warming.

The object tricyclo compounds (I) obtained according to the synthetic processes 1 to 6 as explained above can be isolated and purified in a conventional manner, for example, extraction, precipitation, fractional crystallization, recrystallization, chromatography, and the like.

Suitable salts of the compounds (I) and (Ia) to (Il) may include pharamaceutically acceptable salts such as basic salts, for example, alkali metal salt (e.g. sodium salt, potassium salt, etc.), alkaline earth metal salt (e.g. calcium salt, magnesium salt, etc.), ammonium salt, amine salt (e.g. triethylamine salt, N-benzyl-N-methylamine salt, etc.) and other conventional organic salts.

It is to be noted that in the aforementioned reactions in the synthetic processes 1 to 6 or the post-treatment of the reaction mixture therein, the conformer and/or stereo isomer(s) due to asymmetric carbon atom(s) or double bond(s) of the starting and object compounds may occasionally be transformed into the other conformer and/or stereoisomer(s), and such cases are also included within the scope of the present invention.

The tricyclo compounds (I) of the present invention possess pharmacological activities such as immunosuppressive activity, antimicrobial activity, and the like, and therefore are useful for the treatment and prevention of the resistance by transplantation of organs or tissues such as heart, kidney, liver, medulla ossium, skin, etc., graft-versus-host diseases by medulla ossium transplantation, autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, type I diabetes, uveitis, etc., infectious diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms, and the like.

As examples for showing such pharmacological activities, some pharmacological test data of the tricyclo compounds are illustrated in the following.

Test 1 Suppression of Tricyclo Compounds (I) in in vitro Mixed Lymphocyte Reaction (MLR)

The MLR test was performed in microtiter plates, with each well containing 5×10⁵ C57BL/6 responder cells (H-2^(b)), 5×10⁵ mitomycin C treated (25μg/ml mitomycin C at 37° C. for 30 minutes and washed three times with RPMI 1640 medium) BALB/C stimulator cells (H-2^(d) ) in 0.2 ml RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum, 2mM sodium hydrogen carbonate, penicillin (50 unit/ml) and streptomycin (50 μg/ml). The cells were incubated at 37° C. in humidified atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide and 95% of air for 68 hours and pulsed with ³ H-thymidine (0.5 μCi) 4 hours before the cells were collected. The object compound of this invention was dissolved in ethanol and further diluted in RPMI 1640 medium and added to the cultures to give final concentrations of 0.1 μg/ml or less.

The results are shown in Tables 7 to 10. The tricyclo compounds of the present invention suppressed mouse MLR.

                  TABLE 7                                                          ______________________________________                                         Effect of the FR-900506 Substance on MLR                                       FR-900506                                                                      concentration                                                                           Radioactivities Suppression                                                                              IC.sub.50                                   (ng/ml)  (mean C.P.M. ± S.E.)                                                                        (%)       (ng/ml)                                     ______________________________________                                         2.5      54 ± 4       99.5                                                  1.25     168 ± 23     98.3                                                  0.625    614 ± 57     93.8                                                  0.313    3880 ± 222   60.9      0.26                                        0.156    5490 ± 431   44.7                                                  0.078    7189 ± 365   27.6                                                  0        9935 ± 428   0                                                     ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 8                                                          ______________________________________                                         Effect of FR-900520 Substance on MLR                                           FR-900520                                                                      concentration                                                                           Radioactivities Suppression                                                                              IC.sub.50                                   (ng/ml)  (mean C.P.M. ± S.E.)                                                                        (%)       (ng/ml)                                     ______________________________________                                         100      175 ± 16     99.2                                                  10       515 ± 55     97.8                                                  1        2744 ± 527   88.1      0.38                                        0.500     9434 ± 1546 59.2                                                  0.25     14987 ± 1786 35.1                                                  0        23106 ± 1652 0                                                     ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 9                                                          ______________________________________                                         Effect of FR-900523 Substance on MLR                                           FR-900523                                                                      concentration                                                                           Radioactivities Suppression                                                                              IC.sub.50                                   (ng/ml)  (mean C.P.M. ± S.E.)                                                                        (%)       (ng/ml)                                     ______________________________________                                         100       25 ± 12     99.9                                                  10       156 ± 37     99.3                                                  1        5600 ± 399   75.8      0.5                                         0.500    11624 ± 395  49.7                                                  0.250    17721 ± 1083 23.3                                                  0        23106 ± 1052 0                                                     ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 10                                                         ______________________________________                                         Effect of the FR-900525 Substance on MLR                                       FR-900525                                                                      concentration                                                                           Radioactivities Suppression                                                                              IC.sub.50                                   (ng/ml)  (mean C.P.M. ± S.E.)                                                                        (%)       (ng/ml)                                     ______________________________________                                         100      469 ± 56     97.0                                                  10       372 ± 32     97.6                                                  5         828 ± 369   94.7      1.55                                        2.5      3564 ± 512   77.4                                                  1.2      10103 ± 421  35.8                                                  0        15741 ± 411  0                                                     ______________________________________                                    

Test 2 Antimicrobial activities of Tricyclo Compounds (I)

Antimicrobial activities of the tricyclo compounds (I) against various fungi were determined by a serial agar dilution method in a Sabouraud agar. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were expressed in terms of μg/ml after incubation at 30° C. for 24 hours.

The tricyclo compounds of the present invention showed antimicrobial activities against fungi, for example, Aspergillus fumigatus IFO 5840 and Fusarium oxysporum IFO 5942 as described in the following Tables 11 and 12.

                  TABLE 11                                                         ______________________________________                                         MIC values (μg/ml) of Tricyclo Compounds (I)                                against Aspergillus fumigatus IFO 5840                                         Substances    MIC (μg/ml)                                                   ______________________________________                                         FR-900506      0.025                                                           FR-900520     0.1                                                              FR-900523     0.3                                                              FR-900525     0.5                                                              ______________________________________                                    

                  TABLE 12                                                         ______________________________________                                         MIC values (μg/ml) of Tricyclo Compounds (I)                                of against Fusarium oxysporum                                                  Substances    MIC (μg/ml)                                                   ______________________________________                                         FR-900506     0.05                                                             FR-900525     1                                                                ______________________________________                                    

Test 3 Effect of Tricyclo Compounds (I) on Skin Allograft Survival in Rats

Vental allografts from donor (Fischer) rats were grafted onto the lateral thoracic area of recipient (WKA) rats. The dressings were removed on day 5. The grafts were inspected daily until rejection which was defined as more than 90% necrosis of the graft epitherium.

The FR-900506 substance was dissolved in olive oil and administered intramuscularly for 14 consecutive days, beginning at the day of transplantation.

As shown in Table 13, all skin allografts were rejected within 8 days in rats treated with olive oil intramuscularly for 14 consecutive days, but daily treatment with the FR-900506 substance clearly prolonged skin allograft survival.

                  TABLE 13                                                         ______________________________________                                         Effect of FR-900506 Substance on                                               Skin Allograft Survival                                                                        Number of Skin Allograft                                       Dose (mg/kg)    Animals   Survival Day                                         ______________________________________                                         Control --          11        7,7,7,7,7,7,8,8,8,8,8                            (olive oil)                                                                    FR-900506                                                                              1           8         19,19,19,20,21,21,22,22                          Substance                                                                                3.2       6         22,23,23,26,27,35                                        10          5         56,61,82,85,89                                   ______________________________________                                    

Test 4 Effect of Tricylo Compounds (I) on Type II Collagen-Induced-Arthritis in Rats

Collagen was dissolved in cold 0.01 M acetic acid at a concentration of 2 mg/ml. The solution was emulsified in an equal volume of incomplete Freund's adjuvant. A total volume of 0.5 ml of the cold emulsion was injected intradermally at several sites on the back and one or two sites into the tail of female Lewis rats. The FR-900506 substance was dissolved in olive oil and administered orally. Control rats immunized with same amount of type II collagen received oral administrations of olive oil alone. Incidences of the arthritis were observed.

The test results are shown in Table 14. The inflammatory polyarthritis was induced in all rats treated with olive oil for 14 days starting on the same day as the type II collagen immunization.

Daily treatment with the FR-900506 substance for 14 days gave complete suppression of arthritis induction during an observation period of 3 weeks.

                  TABLE 14                                                         ______________________________________                                         Effect of FR-900506 Substance on Type II                                       Collagen-induced-Arthritis in Rats                                                                    Incidence of                                                      Dose (mg/kg per day)                                                                        Arthritis                                               ______________________________________                                         Control     --             5/5                                                 (olive oil)                                                                    FR-900506   3.2            0/5                                                 Substance                                                                      ______________________________________                                    

Test 5 Effect of Tricylo Compounds (I) on Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelytis (EAE) in SJL/J Mice

Spinal cord homogenate was prepared from SJL/J mice. The spinal cords were removed by insufflation, mixed with an approximately equal volume of water and homogenized at 4° C. An equal volume of this cold homogenate (10 mg/ml) was emulsified with complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) containing 0.6 mg/ml of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37RA.

EAE was induced by two injections of 0.2 ml of spinal cord-CFA emulsion into SJL/J mice on day 0 and day 13. All mice used in these tests were evaluated and scored daily for clinical signs of EAE.

The severity of EAE was scored according to the following criteria: grade 1-decreased tail tone: grade 2--a clumsy gait : grade 3--weakness of one or more limb: grade 4--paraplegia or hemiplegia.

The FR-900506 substance was dissolved in olive oil and administered orally for 19 days starting on day 0 (the day of first immunization). As shown in Table 15, the FR-900506 substance clearly prevented the development of clinical signs of EAE.

                  TABLE 15                                                         ______________________________________                                         Effect of FR-900506 Substance on Experimental                                  Allergic Encephalomyelytis in SJL/J Mice                                                          Number of Animals                                                    Dose (mg/kg)                                                                             with Disease at Day 24                                      ______________________________________                                         Control    --          10/10                                                   (olive oil)                                                                    FR-900506  32          0/5                                                     Substance                                                                      ______________________________________                                    

Test 6 Effect of Tricyclo Compounds (I) on Local Graft-versus-Host Reaction (GvHR) in Mice

The viable spleen cells (1×10⁷ cells) from C57BL/6 donors were injected subcutaneously into the right hind foot pad of BDF₁ mice to induce local GvHR. The mice were killed 7 days later and both right (injected paw) and left (uninjected paw) popliteal lymph nodes (PLN) were weighed. The GvHR was expressed as the weight difference between right and left PLN.

The FR-900506 substance was dissolved in olive oil and administered orally for five days starting on the same day as sensitization.

ED₅₀ Value of the FR-900506 substance for prevention of the local graft-versus-host reaction was 19 mg/kg.

Test 7 Acute toxicities of Tricyclo Compounds (I)

Test on acute toxicities of the FR-900506, FR-900520, FR-900523 and FR-900525 substances in ddY mice by intraperitoneal injection were conducted, and the dead at dose of 100 mg/kg could not be observed in each case.

Test 8 Effect of Tricyclo Compounds (I) on Antibody Formation in mice (Assay for the haemagglutination test)

Male BDF₁ mice 6 to 8 weeks of age were used for this test The mice were immunized on day 0 with 1×10⁸ sheep erythrocytes (SRBC) intraperitoneally. Serum aggulutinin titers were determined for each individual animal with sedimentation of erythrocytes by serial two fold dilutions. The titers are expressed as -log₂.

The FR-900506 substance was administered orally for 5 days from one day before immunization to day 3.

The results of each experiments were evaluated by means of Student's t-test as shown in Table 16.

                  TABLE 16                                                         ______________________________________                                         Effect of FR-900506 Substance on antibody formation in mice                                 Number   Haemagglutination                                        Dose         of       Mean log.sub.2                                                                               ED.sub.50                                  (mg/kg)      Animals  titer ± SE (mg/kg)                                    ______________________________________                                         Control --       5        8.2 ± 0.2                                                                               --                                       FR-900506                                                                              10       5        7.6 ± 0.4                                                 32       5         6.0 ± 0.45                                                                             16.9                                             100      5         4.4 ± 0.75                                       ______________________________________                                    

Test 9 Effect of Tricyclo Compounds (I) on in vivo Plaque Forming Cell (PFC) Response in Mice

Male C3H/He mice 6 to 7 weeks of age were used for this test. The mice were immunized on day 0 with 0.2 ml of 1×10⁸ washed sheep erythrocytes intravenously. Spleens were removed on day 4 and spleen cells were incubated in the presence of SRBC as described by Cunningham and Szenberg (1968). Tests were evaluated by enumeration of direct generated plaque forming cells in the presence of complement. Suspensions of spleen cells were counted with a Microcellcounter CC-130 (Sysmex, Japan) and PFC results were calculated as PFC/10⁶ recovered cells

The FR-900506 substance was administered orally for 4 days starting from the immunization.

The results of each experiment were evaluated by means of Student's t-test as shown in Table 17.

                  TABLE 17                                                         ______________________________________                                         Effect of FR-900506 Substance on                                               in vivo PFC Response in Mice                                                          Dose   Number     PFC/10.sup.6                                                                             ED.sub.50                                          (mg/kg)                                                                               of Animals cells     (mg/kg)                                     ______________________________________                                         Control  --       5          5054 ± 408                                                                          --                                        FR-900506                                                                                 3.2    5          3618 ± 476                                              10       5          1382 ± 243                                                                          5.9                                                32       5          657 ± 41                                                100      5          278 ± 41                                       ______________________________________                                    

Test 10 Effect of Tricyclo Compounds (I) on Contact-Delayed Hypersensitivity in mice

Female ICR mice were used for this test. A tenth of a 7% (w/v) solution of picryl chloride in ethanol prepared at the time of the experiment was applied to the ventral surface of previously shaved animals. Such a sensitization was performed twice at intervals of 7 days. Seven days later, the thickness of the ears were measured with an ordinary engineer's micrometer and a 1% (w/v) solution of picryl chloride in olive oil was painted to both surfaces of each ear. The inflammation was evaluated 24 hours later by measuring the both of ears. The results were expressed as the average increase in thickness of the ears measured in units of 10⁻³ cm.

The FR-900506 substance was injected for 14 days orally, starting from the first sensitization.

Statistical significance was evaluated by Student's t-test as shown in Table 18.

                  TABLE 18                                                         ______________________________________                                         Effect of FR-900506 Substance on contact-delayed                               hypersensitivity in mice                                                       Dose         Number    Increase of ears at 24 hours                            (mg/kg)      of Animals                                                                               after challenge (× 10.sup.-3                      ______________________________________                                                                cm)                                                     Control --       5         15.5 ± 0.8                                       FR-900506                                                                              32       5         6.4 ± 1.6                                                100      5         2.2 ± 1.5                                        ______________________________________                                    

Test 11 Effect of Tricyclo Compounds (I) on Delayed Type Hypersensitivity (DTH) Response to methylated bovine serum albumin (MBSA)

Female BDF1 mice were used for this test The mice were sensitized with a subcutaneous injection of 0.1 ml emulsion consisting of equal volume of MBSA (2 mg/ml) and Freund's incomplete adjuvant (FIA). Seven days later, a 0.05 ml challenge dose of 0.4 mg/ml MBSA in saline was injected into the plantar region of the right hind foot and 0.05 ml saline into the left hind foot to act as a control. Twenty four hours after challenge, both hind feet were measured with a dial gauge and the mean challenge in footpad thickness was measured.

The FR-900506 substance was injected for 8 days orally, starting from the sensitization.

Statistical significance was evaluated by Student's t-test as shown in Table 19.

                  TABLE 19                                                         ______________________________________                                         Effect of FR-900506 Substance on DTH to MBSA in mice                                                   Footpad                                                Dose          Number    Swelling    ED.sub.50                                  (mg/kg)       of Animals                                                                               (× 10.sup.-3 cm)                                                                     (mg/kg)                                    ______________________________________                                         Control --        5         57.4 ± 3.4                                                                            --                                       FR-900506                                                                              10        5         31.0 ± 4.4                                              32        5         20.8 ± 4.4                                                                            18.4                                             100       5          7.8 ± 1.6                                      ______________________________________                                    

Test 12 Inhibition of Interleukin-2 (IL-2) Production by Tricyclo Compounds (I)

The mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) was performed in microtiter plates, with each well containing 5×10⁵ C57BL/6 responder cells (H-2^(b)), 5×10⁵ mitomycin C treated (25 μg/ml mitomycin C at 37° C. for 30 minutes and washed three times with RPMI 1640 medium) BALB/C stimulator cells (H-2^(b)) in 0.2 ml RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum, 2 mM sodium hydrogen carbonate, penicillin 20 (50 unites/ml) and streptomycin (50 μg/ml). The cells were incubated at 37° C. in humidified atmosphere of 5% carbon dioxide and 95% of air for 48 hours and the supernatant was collected. The FR-900506 substance was dissolved in ethanol and further diluted in RPMI 1640 medium and added to the cultures to give final concentrations of 0.1 μg/ml or less.

The IL-2 activity was measured according to the method described by S. Gillis et. al. [Journal of Immunology, Vol. 120, page 2027, (1978)]. The IL-2 dependent CTLL-2 cell line was used to quantitate IL-2 activity Cells (5×10³ /well) were cultured at 37° C. for 24 hours with various dilutions of IL-2 containing supernatant from MLR. The uptake of ³ H-thymidine was measured by pulsing cultures with 0.5 μCi of ³ H-thymidine for 6 hours. The unit value was calculated by dilution analysis of test sample and was compared with a laboratory standard preparation in which 100 units are equivalent to the amount of IL-2 necessary to achieve 50% proliferation of CTLL-2 cells

As shown in Table 20, the FR-900506 substance of the present invention inhibited the production of IL-2 from mouse MLR.

                  TABLE 20                                                         ______________________________________                                         Effect of the FR-900506 Substance on IL-2 Production                           FR-900506                                                                      concentration  IL-2                                                            (nM)           (units/ml)                                                                               Inhibition %                                          ______________________________________                                         10             0         100                                                   1              0         100                                                   0.3            0.2         99.5                                                0.1            25.0        34.4                                                0              38.1      --                                                    ______________________________________                                          *The residual oxygenate products other than 1ethoxypropan-2-ol and             2ethoxypropan-1-ol, total around 1700 ppm, measured by gas chromatography      and mass spectrometry.                                                   

The FR-900506 substance also inhibited lymphokine production such as interleukin 3 and interferones, especially γ-interferone, in the supernatant of MLR.

The pharmaceutical composition of this invention can be used in the form of a pharmaceutical preparation, for example, in solid, semisolid or liquid form, which contains the tricyclo compounds (I) of the present invention, as an active ingredient, in admixture with an organic or inorganic carrier or excipient suitable for external, enteral or parenteral applications. The active ingredient may be compounded, for example, with the usual non-toxic, pharmaceutically acceptable carriers for tablets, pellets, capsules, suppositories, solutions, emulsions, suspensions, and any other form suitable for use. The carriers which can be used are water, glucose, lactose, gum acacia, gelatin, mannitol, starch paste, magnesium trisilicate, talc, corn starch, keratin, colloidal silica, potato starch, urea and other carriers suitable for use in manufacturing preparations, in solid, semisolid, or liquid form, and in addition auxiliary, stabilizing, thickening and coloring agents and perfumes may be used. The active object compound is included in the pharmaceutical composition in an amount sufficient to produce the desired effect upon the process or condition of diseases.

For applying this composition to human, it is preferable to apply it by parenteral or enteral administration. While the dosage of therapeutically effective amount of the tricyclo compounds (I) varies from and also depends upon the age and condition of each individual patient to be treated, a daily dose of about 0.01-1000 mg, preferably 0.1-500 mg and more preferably 0.5-100 mg, of the active ingredient is generally given for treating diseases, and an average single dose of about 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 5 mg, 10 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, 250 mg and 500 mg is generally administered.

The following examples are given for the purpose of illustrating the present invention.

EXAMPLE 1 Isolation of Streptomyces tsukubaensis No. 9993

Streptomyces tsukubaensis No. 9993 was isolated by using dilution plate techniques as shown in the following.

About one gram soil which was collected at Toyosato-cho, Tsukuba Gun, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, was added to a sterile test tube and the volume made up to 5 ml with sterile water. The mixture was then blended for 10 second by a tube buzzer and kept on 10 minutes. The supernatant was sequentially diluted by 100 fold with sterile water. The diluted solution (0.1 ml) was spread on Czapek agar supplemented with thiamine hydrochloride (saccharose 30 g, sodium nitrate 3 g, dipotassium phosphate 1 g, magnesium sulfate 0.5 g, potassium chloride 0.5 g, ferrous sulfate 0.01 g, thiamine hydrochloride 0.1 g, agar 20 g, tap water 1000 ml; pH 7.2) in a Petri dish. The growing colonies developed on the plates after 21 days incubation at 30° C were transferred to slants [yeast-malt extract agar (ISP-medium 2)] , and cultured for 10 days at 30° C. Among of the colonies isolated, the Streptomyces tsukubaensis No. 9993 could be found.

Fermentation

A culture medium (160 ml) containing glycerin (1%), soluble starch (1 %), glucose (0.5%), cottonseed meal (0.5%), dried yeast (0.5%), corn steep liquor (0.5%) and calcium carbonate (0.2%) (adjusted to pH 6.5) was poured into each of twenty 500 ml-Erlenmeyer flasks and sterilized at 120° C. for 30 minutes. A loopful of slant culture of Streptomyces tsukubaensis No.9993, FERM BP-927 was inoculated to each of the media and cultured at 30° C. for 4 days on a rotary shaker. The resultant culture was inoculated to a medium containing soluble starch (4.5%), corn steep liquor (1%), dried yeast (1%), calcium carbonate (0.1%) and Adekanol (defoaming agent, Trade Mark, maker; Asahi Denka Co.) (0.1%) (150 liters) in a 200-liter jar-fermentor, which had been sterilized at 120° C. for 20 minutes in advance, and cultured at 30° C. for 4 days under aeration of 150 liters/minutes and agitation of 250 rpm.

Isolation and Purification

The cultured broth thus obtained was filtered with an aid of diatomaseous earth (5 kg). The mycelial cake was extracted with methanol (50 liters), yielding 50 liters of the extract. The methanol extract from mycelium and the filtrate were combined and passed through a column of a non-ionic adsorption resin "Diaion HP-20" (Trade Mark, maker Mitsubishi Chemical Industries Ltd.)(10 liters). After washing with water (30 liters) and aqueous methanol (30 liters), elution was carried out with methanol. The eluate was evaporated under reduced pressure to give residual water (2 liters). This residue was extracted with ethyl acetate (2 liters). The ethyl acetate extract was concentrated under reduced pressure to give an oily residue. The oily residue was mixed with twice weight of acidic silica gel (special silica gel grade 12, maker Fuji Devison Co.), and this mixture was slurried in ethyl acetate After evaporating the solvent, the resultant dry powder was subjected to column chromatography of the same acid silica gel (800 ml) which was packed with n-hexane The column was developed with n-hexane (3 liters), a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (9:1 v/v, 3 liters and 4:1 v/v, 3 liters) and ethyl acetate (3 liters). The fractions containing the object compound were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give an oily residue The oily residue was dissolved in a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (1:1 v/v, 30 ml) and subjected to column chromatography of silica gel (maker Merck Co., Ltd. 230-400 mesh) (500 ml) packed with the same solvents system.

Elution was carried out with a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (1:1 v/v, 2 liters and 1:2 v/v, 1.5 liters). Fractions containing the first object compound were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give a yellowish oil. The oily residue was mixed twice weight of acidic silica gel and this mixture was slurried in ethyl acetate. After evaporating the solvent, the resultant dry powder was chromatographed on acidic silica gel packed and developed with n-hexane. Fractions containing the object compound were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give crude FR-900506 substance (1054 mg) in the form of white powder.

100 mg Of this crude product was subjected to high performance liquid chromatography. Elution was carried out using a column (8φ×500 mm) with Lichrosorb SI 60 (Trade Mark, made by Merck & Co.) as a carrier. This chromatography was monitored by UV detector at 230 nm and mobile phase was a mixture of methylene chloride and dioxane (85:15 v/v) under flow rate of 5 ml/minute., and the active fractions were collected and evaporated. This high performance chromatography was repeated again, and 14 mg of the purified FR-900506 substance was obtained as white powder.

Further, elution was continuously carried out with ethyl acetate (1.5 liters), and fractions containing the second object compound were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give crude FR-900525 substance (30 mg) in the form of yellowish oil.

EXAMPLE 2 Fermentation

A preculture medium (100 ml) containing glycerin (1%), corn starch (1%), glucose (0.5%), cottenseed meal (1%), corn steep liquor (0.5%), dried yeast (0.5%) and calcium carbonate (0.2%) at pH 6.5 was poured into a 500 ml-Erlenmeyer flask and sterilized at 120° C. for 30 minutes. A loopful of slant culture of Streptomyces tsukubaensis No. 9993 was inoculated to the medium and cultured at 30° C. for four days. The resultant culture was transferred to the same preculture medium (20 liters) in 30 liters jar-fermentor which had been sterilized at 120° C. for 30 minutes in advance. After the culture was incubated at 30° C. for 2 days, 16 liters of the preculture was inoculated to a fermentation medium (1600 liters) containing soluble starch (4.5%), corn steep liquor (1%), dried yeast (1%), calcium carbonate (0.1%) and Adekanol (defoaming agent, Trade Mark, maker Asahi Denka Co.) (0.1%) at pH 6.8 in 2 ton tank which had been sterilized at 120° C. for 30 minutes in advance and cultured at 30° C. for 4 days.

Isolation and Purification

The cultured broth thus obtained was filtered with an aid of diatomaseous earth (25 kg). The mycelial cake was extracted with acetone (500 liters), yielding 500 liters of the extract. The acetone extract from mycelium and the filtrate (1350 liters) were combined and passed through a column of a non-ionic adsorption resin "Diaion HP-20" (Trade Mark, maker Mitsubishi Chemical Industries Ltd.) (100 liters). After washing with water (300 liters) and 50% aqueous acetone (300 liters), elution was carried out with 75% aqueous acetone. The eluate was evaporated under reduced pressure to give residual water (300 liters). This residue was extracted with ethyl acetate (20 liters) three times. The ethyl acetate extract was concentrated under reduced pressure to give an oily residue. The oily residue was mixed with twice weight of acidic silica gel (special silica gel grade 12, maker Fuji Devison Co.), and this mixture was slurried in ethyl acetate. After evaporating the solvent, the resultant dry powder was subjected to column chromatography of the same acidic silica gel (8 liters) which was packed with n-hexane. The column was developed with n-hexane (30 liters), a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (4:1 v/v, 30 liters) and ethyl acetate (30 liters). The fractions containing the object compound were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give an oily residue. The oily residue was mixed with twice weight of acidic silica gel and this mixture was slurried in ethyl acetate. After evaporating the solvent, the resultant dry powder was rechromatographed on acidic silica gel (3.5 liters) packed with n-hexane. The column was developed with n-hexane (10 liters), a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (4:1 v/v, 10 liters) and ethyl acetate (10 liters). Fractions containing the object compound were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give a yellowish oil. The oily residue was dissolved in a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (1:1 v/v, 300 ml) and subjected to column chromatography of silica gel (maker Merck Co., Ltd. 230-400 mesh) (2 liters) packed with the same solvents system. Elution was curried out with a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (1:1 v/v, 10 liters and 1:2 v/v 6 liters) and ethyl acetate (6 liters).

Fractions containing the first object compound were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give FR-900506 substance in the form of white powder (34 g). This white powder was dissolved in acetonitrile and concentrated under reduced pressure. This concentrate was kept at 5° C. overnight and prisms (22.7 g) were obtained. Recrystallization from the same solvent gave purified FR-900506 substance (13.6 g) as colorless prisms.

Further, fractions containing the second object compound were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give crude FR-900525 substance (314 mg) in the form of yellowish powder.

EXAMPLE 3 Fermentation

A culture medium (160 ml) containing glycerin (1%), corn starch (1%), glucose (0.5%), cottonseed meal (1%), dried yeast (0.5%), corn steep liquor (0.5%) and calcium carbonate (0.2%) (adjusted to pH 6.5) was poured into each of ten 500 ml-Erlenmeyer flasks and sterilized at 120° C. for 30 minutes. A loopful of slant culture of Streptomyces tsukubaensis No. 9993 was inoculated to each of the medium and cultured at 30° C. for 4 days on a rotary shaker. The resultant culture was inoculated to a medium containing soluble starch (5%), peanut powder (0.5%), dried yeast (0.5%), gluten meal (0.5%), calcium carbonate (0.1%) and Adekanol (deforming agent, Trade Mark, maker Asasi Denka Co.) (0.1%) (150 liters) in a 200-liter jar-fermentor, which had been sterilized at 120° C. for 20 minutes in advance, and cultured at 30° C. for 4 days under aeration of 150 liters/minutes and agitation of 250 rpm.

Isolation and Purification

The cultured broth thus obtained was filtered with an aid of diatomaseous earth (5 kg). The mycelial cake was extracted with acetone (50 liters), yielding 50 liters of the extract. The acetone extract from mycelium and the filtrate (135 liters) were combined and passed through a column of a non-ionic adsorption resin "Diaion HP-20" (Trade Mark, maker Mitsubishi Chemical Industries Ltd.) (10 liters). After washing with water (30 liters) and 50 % aqueous acetone (30 liters), elution was carried out with 75 aqueous acetone The eluate (30 liters) was evaporated under reduced pressure to give residual water (2 liters). This residue was extracted with ethyl acetate (2 liters) three times. The ethyl acetate extract was concentrated under reduced pressure to give an oily residue. The oily residue was mixed with twice weight of acidic silica gel (special silica gel grade 12, maker Fuji Devison Co.), and this mixture was slurried in ethyl acetate. After evaporating the solvent, the resultant dry powder was subjected to column chromatography of the same acidic silica gel (800 ml) which was packed with n-hexane. The column was developed with n-hexane (3 liters), a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (4:1 v/v, 3 liters) and ethyl acetate (3 liters). The fractions containing the object compound were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give an oily residue The oily residue was dissolved in a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (1:1 v/v, 30 ml) and subjected to column chromatography of silica gel (maker Merck Co., Ltd. 230-400 mesh) (500 ml) packed with the same solvents system. Elution was carried out with a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (1:1 v/v, 2 liters and 1:2 v/v, 1.5 liters) and ethyl acetate (1.5 liters).

Fractions containing the first object compound were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give crude FR-900506 substance (3 g) in the form of yellowish powder.

Further, fractions containing the second object compound were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give an oily residue. This oily residue was rechromatographed with silica gel to give a yellowish oil. The oily residue was mixed with twice weight of acidic silica gel and this mixture was slurried in ethyl acetate. After evaporating the solvent, the resultant dry powder was chromatographed on acidic silica gel (100 ml) packed and developed with n-hexane. Fractions containing the object compound were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give FR-900525 substance in the form of pale yellowish powder (380 mg). This powder was dissolved in a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (1:2 v/v, 5 ml) and subjected to acidic silica gel (special silica gel grade 922, maker Fuji Devison Co.) (100 ml) packed and washed with the same solvent system. Elution was carried out with ethyl acetate. The active fractions were collected and evaporated under reduced pressure to give the purified FR-900525 substance (230 mg) in the form of white powder.

EXAMPLE 4 Isolation of Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. yakushimaensis No. 7238

Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. yakushimaensis No. 7238 was isolated by using dilution plate techniques as shown in the following.

About one gram soil which was collected at Yakushima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, was added to a sterile test tube and the volume made up to 5 ml with sterile water. The mixture was then blended for 10 seconds by a tube buzzer and kept on 10 minutes. The supernatant was sequentially diluted by 100 fold with sterile water. The diluted solution (0.1 ml) was spread on Czapek agar supplemented with thiamine hydrochloride (saccharose 30 g, sodium nitrate 3 g, dipotassium phosphate 1 g, magnesium sulfate 0.5 g, potassium chloride 0.5 g, ferrous sulfate 0 01 g, thiamine hydrochloride 0.1 g, agar 20 g, tap water 1000 ml; pH 7.2) in a Petri dish. The growing colonies developed on the plates after 21 days incubation at 30° C. were transferred to slants [yeast-malt extract agar (ISP-medium 2)], and cultured for 10 days at 30° C. Among of the colonies isolated, the Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. yakushimaensis No 7238 could be found.

Fermentation

A culture medium (160 ml) containing glycerin (1%), soluble starch (1 %), glucose (0.5%), cottonseed meal (0.5%), dried yeast (0.5%), corn steep liquor (0.5%) and calcium carbonate (0.2%) (adjusted to pH 6.5) was poured into each of twenty 500 ml-Erlenmeyer flasks and sterilized at 120° C. for 30 minutes A loopful of slant culture of Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. yakushimaensis No. 7238, FERM BP-928 was inoculated to each of the media and cultured at 30° C. for 4 days on a rotary shaker. The resultant culture was inoculated to a medium containing glucose (4.5%), corn steep liquor (1%), dried yeast (1%), gluten meal (1%), wheat germ (0.5%), calcium carbonate (0.1%) and Adekanol (defoaming agent, Trade Mark, maker Asahi Denka Co.) (0.1%) (150 liters) in a 200-liter jar-fermentor, which had been sterilized at 120° C. for 20 minutes in advance, and cultured at 30° C. for 4 days under aeration of 150 liters/minutes and agitation of 250 rpm.

Isolation and Purification

The cultured broth thus obtained was filtered with an aid of diatomaseous earth (5 kg). The mycelial cake was extracted with acetone (50 liters), yielding 50 liters of the extract. The acetone extract from mycelium and the filtrate (135 liters) were combined and passed through a column of a non-ionic adsorption resin "Diaion HP-20" (Trade Mark, maker Mitsubishi Chemical Industries Ltd.)(10 liters). After washing with water (30 liters) and aqueous acetone (30 liters), elution was carried out with acetone. The eluate was evaporated under reduced pressure to give residual water (2 liters). This residue was extracted with ethyl acetate (4 liters). The ethyl acetate extract was concentrated under reduced pressure to give an oily residue. The oily residue was mixed with twice weight of acidic silica gel (special silica gel grade 12, maker Fuji Devison Co.), and this mixture was slurried in ethyl acetate. After evaporating the solvent, the resultant dry powder was subjected to column chromatography of the same acid silica gel (800 ml) which was packed with n-hexane. The column was developed with n-hexane (3 liters), a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (4:1 v/v, 3 liters) and ethyl acetate (3 liters). The fractions containing the FR-900520 and FR-900523 substances were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give an oily residue The oily residue was dissolved in a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (1:1 v/v, 50 ml) and subjected to column chromatography of silica gel (maker Merck Co., Ltd. 70-230 mesh) (1000 ml) packed with the same solvents system. Elution was carried out with a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (1:1 v/v, 3 liters and 1:2 v/v, 3 liters) and ethyl acetate (3 liters). Fractions containing the object compounds were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give a yellowish powder (4.5 g). This powder was dissolved in methanol (20 ml) and mixed with water (10ml). The mixture was chromatographed on a reverse phase silica gel "YMC" (60-200 mesh) (500 ml) (Trade Mark, maker Yamamura Chemical Institute) packed and developed with a mixture of methanol and water (4:1 v/v).

Fractions containing the FR-900520 substance were collected and concentrated under reduced pressure to give crude product of the FR-900520 substance (1.8 g) in the form of pale yellowish powder. This powder was dissolved in a small amount of diethyl ether. After standing overnight, the precipitated crystals were collected by filtration, washed with diethyl ether and then dried under reduced pressure. Recrystallization from diethyl ether gave 600 mg of the purified FR-900520 substance in the form of colorless plates.

The chromatography of the reverse phase silica gel was carried on with the same solvents system, and the subsequent fractions containing the FR-900523 substance were collected and then concentrated under reduced pressure to give crude product of the FR-900523 substance (0.51 g) in the form of pale yellowish powder. This crude product was dissolved in acetonitrile (3 ml) and subjected to a reverse phase silica gel "YMC" (70 ml) packed and developed with a mixture of acetonitrile, tetrahydrofuran and 50 mM phosphate buffer solution (pH 2.0) (3:2:5, v/v). Fractions containing the object compound were collected and were extracted with ethyl acetate. This extract was concentrated under reduced pressure to give a yellowish white powder (190 mg). The yellowish white powder was chromatographed again on a reverse phase silica gel "YMC" to give white powder (80 mg). This white powder was dissolved in a small amount of diethyl ether and allowed to stand overnight at room temperature to give 56 mg of crystals. Recrystallization from diethyl ether gave 34 mg of the FR-900523 substance in the form of colorless needles.

EXAMPLE 5

To a solution of the FR-900506 substance (10.4 mg) in dichloromethane (0.2 ml) were added pyridine (0.1 ml) and acetic anhydride (0.05 ml) at room temperature, and the mixture was stirred for 5 hours. The solvent was removed from the reaction mixture under reduced pressure. The residue was subjected to silica gel thin layer chromatography (developing solvent: diethyl ether and dichloromethane, 1:2 v/v) to give 12-[2-(4-acetoxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-17-allyl-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-tricyclo[22.3.1.0.sup.4,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (6.0 mg).

IR ν(CHCl₃): 3520, 1728, 1705(sh), 1640, 1095 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 6

To a solution of the FR-900506 substance (52.5 mg) in dichloromethane (1 ml) were added pyridine (0.5 ml) and acetic anhydride (0.3 ml) at room temperature, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 9 hours. The solvent was removed from the reaction mixture under reduced pressure. The residue was subjected to silica gel thin layer chromatography (developing solvent: diethyl ether and hexane, 3:1 v/v) to give 14-acetoxy-12-[2-(4-acetoxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-17-allyl-1-hydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (48.0 mg) and 12-[2-(4-acetoxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-17-allyl-1-hydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo-[22.3.1.0.sup.4,9 ]octacosa-14,18-diene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (5.4 mg), respectively.

Former Compound

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 1730, 1720(sh), 1640 cm⁻¹

Latter Compound

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 1730, 1690, 1640, 1627 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 7

To a solution of the FR-900506 substance (9.7 mg) in dichloromethane (0.2 ml) and pyridine (0.1 ml) was added benzoyl chloride (50 μl) at room temperature, and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 hours. The solvent was removed from the reaction mixture under reduced pressure to give a crude oil. This oil was purified on silica gel thin layer chromatography (developing solvent: diethyl ether and hexane, 2:1 v/v) to afford 17-allyl-12-[2-(4-benzoyloxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-di-methoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (8.0 mg).

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 3500, 1735(sh), 1710, 1640, 1600 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 8

To a solution of the FR-900506 substance (30.5 mg) in pyridine (1 ml) was added p-nitrobenzoyl chloride (ca 100 mg), and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 hours. The reaction mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate, and washed with a saturated aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate, water, 1N-hydrochloric acid, water, a saturated aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate, water and an aqueous sodium chloride, successively, and then dried. The resulting solution was concentrated under reduced pressure, and the residue was purified on silica gel column chromatography to give 17-allyl-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-12-[2-[4-(p-nitrobenzoyloxy)-3-methoxycyclohexyl]-1-methylvinyl]-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (37.7 mg).

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 1720, 1640, 1610, 1530-1520 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 9

17-Allyl-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-12-[2-[4-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyloxy)™3-methoxycyclohexyl]-1-methylvinyl]-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo-[22 3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (36 0 mg) was obtained by reacting the FR-900506 substance (30.6 mg) with 3,5-dinitrobenzoyl chloride (33 mg) in pyridine (0.5 ml) in accordance with a similar manner to that of Example 8.

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 1730, 1640, 1610, 1530-1520 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 10

17-Allyl-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-12-[2-[4-(2-l-menthyloxyacetoxy)-3-methoxycyclohexyl]-1-methylvinyl]-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo-[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (50.9 mg) was obtained by reacting the FR-900506 substance (48 mg) with 2-l-menthyloxyacetyl chloride (0.08 ml) in pyridine (0.5 ml) in accordance with a similar manner to that of Example 8.

IR ν(neat) : 3520, 1760, 1740(sh), 1720(sh), 1652 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 11

To a solution of (-)-2-trifluoromethyl-2-methoxy-2-phenylacetic acid (51 mg) in ethyl acetate (10 ml) was added at room temperature N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (47 mg). After stirring for 1.5 hours at room temperature, then the FR-900506 substance (25.0 mg) and 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)pyridine (11 mg) were added, followed by stirring at room temperature for 3.5 hours. The resulting solution was concentrated to provide a residue, which was taken up in diethyl ether and then washed successively with hydrochloric acid, an aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate and an aqueous sodium chloride. The organic layer was dried over sodium sulfate and concentrated to provide a residue, which was chromatographed on silica gel (developing solvent: dichloromethane and diethyl ether, 10:1 v/v) to give 17-allyl-12-[2-[4-[(-)-2-trifluoromethyl-2-methoxy-2-phenylacetoxy]-3-methoxycyclohexyl]-1-methylvinyl]-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (6.5 mg) and 17-allyl-14-[(-)-2 -trifluoromethyl-2-methoxy-2-phenylacetoxy]-12-[2-[4-[(-)-2-trifluoromethyl-2-methoxy-2-phenylacetoxy]-3-methoxycyclohexyl]-1-methylvinyl]-1-hydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy- 13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo-[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (20.2 mg).

Former Compound

IR ν(neat) : 3510, 1750, 1730(sh), 1710, 1652, 1500 cm⁻¹

Latter Compound

IR ν(neat) : 1750, 1720, 1652, 1500 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 12

To a stirred solution of the FR-900506 substance (248 mg) in pyridine (7 ml) were added succinic anhydride (145 mg) and 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)pyridine (7 mg), and the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for 18 hours. The reaction mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure and the residue was subjected to chromatography on silica gel (20 g) with ethyl acetate to give 17-allyl-12-[2-[4-(3-carboxypropionyloxy)-3-methoxycyclohexyl]-1-methylvinyl]-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴.9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (90 mg).

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 3500, 3100-2300, 1720, 1705(sh), 1635 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 13

To a solution of the FR-900506 substance (100.7 mg) in pyridine (3 ml) was added p-iodobenzenesulfonyl chloride (500 mg), and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 36 hours. The solution was diluted with ethyl acetate and washed with a saturated aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate, water and an aqueous sodium chloride. The organic layer was dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue was chromatographed on silica gel (developing solvent: diethyl ether and hexane, 3:1 v/v) to give 17-allyl-1,14-dihydroxy-12-[2-[4-(p-iodobenzenesulfonyloxy)-3-methoxycyclohexyl]-1-methylvinyl]-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (61 mg) and 17-allyl-1-hydroxy-12-[2-[4-(p-iodobenzenesulfonyloxy)-3-methoxycyclohexyl]-1-methylvinyl]-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacosa-14,18-diene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (12 mg), respectively

Former Compound

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 3470, 1730, 1717, 1692, 1635, 1568 cm⁻¹

Latter Compound

    ______________________________________                                          .sup.1 H NMR δ ppm(CDCl.sub.3):                                                         6.15 (d, J= 15Hz)                                                                                    (1H),                                                   6.25 (d, J= 15Hz)                                                              6.70 (dd, J= 15Hz, 10Hz)                                                                              (1H),                                                   6.80 (dd, J= 15Hz, 10Hz)                                                       7.60 (2H, m), 7.90 (2H, m),                                     ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 14

17-Allyl-12-[2-(4-d-camphorsulfonyloxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (34 mg) was obtained by reacting the FR-900506 substance (27 mg) with d-camphorsulfonyl chloride (97 mg) in pyridine (0.6 ml) in accordance with a similar manner to that of Example 13.

IR ν(neat) : 3500, 1747, 1720(sh), 1710(sh), 1655 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 15

To a stirred solution of the FR-900506 substance (89.7 mg) in dichloromethane (3 ml) were added imidazole (118 mg) and tert-butyl-diphenylsilyl chloride (52.2 mg). After the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 2 hours, the reaction mixture was diluted with a saturated aqueous ammonium chloride and extracted three times with diethyl ether. The extract was washed with water and an aqueous sodium chloride, dried over sodium sulfate, and then concentrated under reduced pressure The residue was purified on silica gel column chromatography (developing solvent: ethyl acetate and hexane, 1:3 v/v) to give 17-allyl-12-[2-(4-tert-butyl-diphenylsilyloxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (107 mg).

IR ν(neat) : 3520, 1742, 1705, 1650 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 16

17-Allyl-12-[2-(4-tert-butyl-dimethylsilyloxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (85 mg) was obtained by reacting the FR-900506 substance (80 mg) with tert-butyl-dimethylsilyl chloride (17 mg) in the presence of imidazole (15 mg) in N,N-dimethylformamide (1 ml) in accordance with a similar manner to that of Example 15.

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 1735, 1720(sh), 1700, 1640 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE17

To a solution of the FR-900506 substance (100 mg) in dimethyl sulfoxide (1.5 ml) was added acetic anhydride (1.5 ml), and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 14 hours. The reaction mixture was diluted with ethyl acetate and washed with a saturated aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate, water and an aqueous sodium chloride. The organic layer was dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and then concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue was subjected to thin layer chromatography on silica gel (developing solvent: diethyl ether) to give 17-allyl-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-12-[2-(4-methylthiomethoxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1⁴,9 ]octacosa-14,18-diene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (51 mg), 17-allyl-1-hydroxy-12-2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0.sup.4,9 ]octacosa-14,18-diene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (18 mg) and 17-allyl-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-12-[2-(4-methylthiomethoxy- 3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0.sup.4,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (10 mg), respectively.

First Compound

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 3470, 1730, 1635, 1630(sh), 1580(sh) cm⁻¹

Second Compound

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 1728, 1640, 1090 cm⁻¹

Third Compound

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 3480, 1735, 1710, 1640 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 18

To a solution of 17-allyl-12-[2-(4-tert-butyl-dimethylsilyloxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (39.9 mg) in pyridine (1.5 ml) was added acetic anhydride (0.5 ml), and the mixture was stirred at room temperature for 6 hours. The solvent was removed from the reaction mixture under reduced pressure to give a crude oil, which was purified on silica gel thin layer chromatography (developing solvent: diethyl ether and hexane, 1:1 v/v) to afford 14-acetoxy-17-allyl-12-[2-(4-tert-butyl-dimethylsilyloxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-1-hydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (26.5 mg).

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 1728, 1715(sh), 1635 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 19

14-Acetoxy-17-allyl-12-[2-(4-tert-butyl-diphenylsilyloxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-1-hydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (10 mg) was obtained by reacting 17-allyl-12-[2-(4-tert-butyl-diphenylsilyloxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (10.6 mg) with acetic anhydride (0.1 mg) in pyridine (0.2 ml) in accordance with a similar manner to that of Example 18.

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 3500, 1730, 1720(sh), 1660(sh), 1640, 1620(sh), 1100 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 20

To a solution of 14-acetoxy-17-allyl-12-[2-(4-tert-butyl-diphenylsilyloxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-1-hydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (43.8 mg) in tetrahydrofuran (1.5 ml) was added potassium carbonate (ca 100 mg) at room temperature and the mixture was stirred at the same temperature for 3 hours. The reaction mixture was diluted with diethyl ether and the resulting solution was washed with a saturated aqueous ammonium chloride, water and an aqueous sodium chloride successively, and dried over sodium sulfate. The resulting solution was concentrated under reduced pressure and the residue was purified on silica gel thin layer chromatography (developing solvent: diethyl ether and hexane, 3:2 v/v) to give 17-allyl-12-[2-(4-tert-butyl-diphenylsilyloxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-1-hydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1⁴,9 ]octacosa-14,18-diene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (30 mg).

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 1733, 1720(sh), 1685, 1640(sh), 1620 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 21

A solution of the FR-900506 substance (50 mg) in ethyl acetate (2 ml) was subjected to catalytic reduction using 10% palladium on carbon (10 mg) under atmospheric pressure at room temperature for 20 minutes. The reaction mixture was filtered and the filtrate was evaporated to dryness, which was purified on thin layer chromatography. Development with a mixture of chloroform and acetone (5:1 v/v) gave 1,14-dihydroxy-12-[2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-23,25-dimethoxy-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (50.0 mg).

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 3480, 1735(sh), 1717, 1700, 1650(sh), 1625 cm⁻¹

EXAMPLE 22

White powder of crude FR-900506 substance (1 g) obtained by a similar fermentation process to Example 1 was dissolved in acetonitrile (5 ml) and subjected to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using Shimazu LC4A (Trade Mark, made by Shimazu Seisaku-sho). Steel column (25 mm inside diameter, 250 mm length) packed with YMC-S343 (ODS) (Trade Mark, made by Shimakyu Co., Ltd.) was used at a flow rate of 12 ml/min. Mobile phase was an aqueous mixture of 28% acetonitrile, 10% n-butanol, 0.075% phosphoric acid, 3.75 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and detection was carried out using Hitachi UV-recorder at 210 nm. One hundred μl of the sample was injected each time and the HPLC was repeated 50 times so that all the sample could be subjected to the column. Each eluate with a retention time of 85 min. to 90 min. was collected and extracted with an equal volume of ethyl acetate (3.6 liters). The ethyl acetate layer was separated and washed with an aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate (1%, 2 liters) and concentrated in vacuo to a small amount. SDS crystallized on concentration was removed by filtration. Crude powder obtained was dissolved in acetonitrile at a concentration of 100 mg/ml and applied again to HPLC. Mobile phase was an aqueous mixture of 12.5% acetonitrile, 9.75% n-butanol, 0.075% phosphoric acid, 3.75 mM SDS. The column was eluted at a flow rate of 10 ml/min. The eluates with a retention time of 131 min. to 143 min. were collected and extracted with equal volume of ethyl acetate. The solvent layer was separated and washed with 1% aqueous sodium hydrogen carbonate and concentrated in vacuo to a small volume. SDS crystallized on concentration was removed by filtration.

Crude powder thus obtained was dissolved in a small amount of ethyl acetate and subjected to column chromatography using silica gel (10 ml) (Kiesel gel, 230-400 mesh, maker: Merck Co., Ltd.). The column was washed with a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (30 ml) (1:1 v/v) and a mixture of n-hexane and ethyl acetate (60 ml) (1:2 v/v). Elution was carried out using ethyl acetate and fractionated (each fraction : 3 ml). Fractions 18 to 24 were collected and concentrated in vacuo to dryness to give FR-900520 substance (24 mg).

EXAMPLE 23

A solution of the FR-900506 substance (310 mg), 2-trimethylsilylethyl 4-isocyanatobutyrate (350 mg) and triethylamine (6 drops) in anhydrous benzene (4 ml) was heated at 50° C. with stirring for 2 hours. The reaction mixture was allowed to stand at room temperature overnight. The mixture was concentrated to dryness under reduced processure to leave a residue, which was chromatographed on silica gel in chloroform. Elution was carried out with chloroform to give 17-allyl-12-[2-[3-methoxy-4-{3-(2 6l -trimethylsilylethoxycarbonyl)propylcarbamoyloxy}cyclohexyl]-1-methylvinyl]-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (99 mg). This product was treated with tetra(n-butyl)ammonium fluoride (0.12 m mole) in tetrahydrofuran (2.5 ml) at room temperature for 20 minutes. The reaction mixture was concentrated to dryness under reduced pressure to leave a residue, which was purified with preparative thin layer chromatography on silica gel. Elution with a mixture of chloroform and methanol (5:1) gave 17-allyl-12-[2-{4-(3-carboxypropylcarbamoyloxy)-3-methoxycyclohexyl}-1-methylvinyl]-1,14-dihydroxy-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21,27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo-22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone (18.1 mg).

IR ν(CHCl₃) : 3550-3100, 2870, 2750-2400, 1730, 1690, 1630 cm⁻¹ 

What we claim is:
 1. A method of inhibiting IL- 2 production by the external application of an effective amount of a compound of the formula: ##STR15## R³ is methyl, ethyl, propyl or allyl, n is an integer of 1 or 2, andthe symbol of a line and dotted line is a single or a double bond, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof in which R¹ is hydroxy or pharmaceutically acceptable protected hydroxy selected from 1-(loweralkylthio)(lower) alkyloxy, tri(lower)alkylsilyloxy, lower alkyl-diphenylsilyloxy, pharmaceutically acceptable organic carboxylic acyloxy, pharmaceutically acceptable organic sulfonic acyloxy, and pharmaceutically acceptable organic carbamic acyloxy, and R² is hydrogen or the same meanings as R¹.
 2. The method of claim 1 in whichR¹ is hydroxy, C₁ -C₄ alkanoyloxy which may have carboxy, cycol (C₅ -C₆)alkyoxy(C₁ -C₄)alkanoyloxy having two (C₁ -C₄)alkyl groups on the cycloalkyl moiety, camphorsulfonyloxy, carboxy(C₁ -C₄)alkylcarbamoyloxy, tri(C₁ -C₄)alkylsilyl(C₁ -C₄)alkoxycarbonyl(C₁ -C₄)alkylcarbamoyloxy, benzoyloxy which may have one or two nitro, benzenesulfonyloxy having halogen, or phenyl(C₁ -C₄)alkanoyloxy having C₁ -C₄ alkoxy and trihalo(C₁ -C₄)alkyl, and R² is hydrogen, hydroxy or C₁ -C₄ alkanoyloxy.
 3. The method of claim 2, in which n is an integer of
 2. 4. The method of claim 3, in which the symbol of a line and dotted line is a single bond.
 5. The method of claim 4, in which R¹ and R² are each hydroxy.
 6. The method of claim 4, in which the compound is 17-Allyl-1,14-dihydroxy-12-[2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxycyclohexyl)-1-methylvinyl]-23,25-dimethoxy-13,19,21, 27-tetramethyl-11,28-dioxa-4-azatricyclo[22.3.1.0⁴,9 ]octacos-18-ene-2,3,10,16-tetraone. 